DAYTON — Police Departments across the state are continually trying to improve how they protect and serve their community — and in Dayton that is no exception.

Five Dayton police officers, one Dayton Fire Department paramedic and Eastway Behavioral Healthcare workers have teamed up to form the Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT), a dedicated unit trained and assigned to intervene in a mental health or substance abuse crisis.

“We need this now more than ever,” Dayton Police Department Detective Patty Tackett said.

Tackett, who oversees the MCRT, said the program is a collaborative effort to get folks connected to the resources they need to avoid jail sentences.

“Whether it be the people who are being arrested more often, the repeat call locations of homes that we’re going to, certain people that are homeless and that we need to help get housed,” she said. 

Tackett said the program is back after a short hiatus in Dayton due to an expiring contract and lack of funding.

The project started more than a decade ago, officials said.

While it’s primarily focused on helping the people police serve, it gives officers like Theo Hines the chance to apply skills from his background.

“I have experience with several relatives and friends that have mental health struggles growing up,” Hines said. “So I wanted to get in the field of social work. It led me into psychology, but I also wanted to be a police officer. So it’s taken some time, but it eventually got to this point where I can utilize both psychology, social work skills and being a police officer where I can interact with people.”

He said his favorite part of being involved in the MCRT is building relationships with the community.

“We’re going out on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis,” he said. “And seeing the changes in their behavior and their thinking, and building that relationship where they begin to trust us.”

Dayton Police Officer Carroll said building trust is one of the most important factors in successfully operating this unit.

“It’s about the individuals on the street not seeing us just as officers, because some people, they don’t like the police,” Carroll said. “But just having that rapport to show, 'Hey we’re the police, but we’re here to help you in your crisis and get you through it.'”

Eastway Behavioral Healthcare caseworker Emily Steele serves on the MCRT.

She said she takes great pride in knowing she’s making a difference in her community.

“I love being involved in this project,” Steele said. “It’s really awesome to be able to be on, kind of, the front lines of linking people to resources. But also just kind of changing people’s perception of policing in the community. It’s been a really cool partnership.”

One of the many services people in crisis are referred to is the Miracle Clubhouse, which specializes in mental health services.

Coordinator Kathy Trick said this project is important because it’s helping mentally ill people get the help they need.

“Instead of picking up somebody and taking them straight to the jail or straight to treatment,” Trick said. “It’s really about meeting the people, meeting our community members where they are, building that rapport with those case managers, with the officers, getting to know them and then connecting them back into the community resources.

Darrel Crenshaw isn’t tied directly with the MCRT but is a member at the Miracle Clubhouse.

He said it’s been a godsend for him in his journey to stay clean.

“They’re honest and they’re really concerned about what’s going on in your life,” Crenshaw said. “They don’t try to make it seem like . . . you have a mental problem, or something is wrong with you. That you don’t fit in. I can always come here and it’s like coming to my family’s home.”

Tackett said they hope to continue to expand the program over time because it’s starting to show positive results.