IRVINE, Calif. — Irvine has launched a Be Well OC Mobile Crisis Response Team on a one-year pilot program following the example of cities like Huntington Beach.
The program is another tool at the Irvine Police Department’s disposal to help manage situations that do not need a traditional police response.
“They’re dispatched like any other member of the Irvine Police Department except in the Be Well van,” said Irvine Police Lieutenant Bill Bingham.
Orange County and many of its larger cities have been creating programs to curb mental health, homelessness and drug abuse.
“All three of those things in our experience are interwoven,” Bingham said.
Irvine already has a mental health outreach unit which deploys officers to a crisis and follows up with a case worker once the crisis has been calmed. Police, who have de-escalation and specialized mental health training, are sent if there’s a threat of violence or if a weapon is involved. The unit pairs these officers with clinicians, who can help find out what substance abuse or mental health problems the person is experiencing.
The Be Well OC vans are an additional tool for the city, with a different purpose. These vans are sent to non-violent calls, where a person may be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or may have called because they’ve had suicidal thoughts.
“That’s a serious call,” Bingham said. “But not necessarily something we’d go to with lights and sirens. That would be a Be Well call.”
Programs like Be Well OC are also designed to decrease the strain on first responders, especially police departments. Irvine police respond to about 2,400 mental health related calls each year. In 2021, the department sent units to about 2,000 calls involving homelessness. That amounts to 11,000 hours of police time, the department reports.
“This program will allow our officers to spend additional time on more traditional law enforcement activities,” said Irvine Police Chief Michael Kent in a news release. “It will put the right personnel in the right place, at the right time.”
The program also allows the city to tap into county money, which contributes to the cost of the program. It's a way for the city to gain an extra service without paying the whole bill.
Huntington Beach began with a pilot program and added a second van in recent months.
“If the workload supports more than one unit, that’s certainly something we’ll evaluate,” Bingham said. “I have every reason to believe that this will continue beyond the one year, but we want good data to support that.”