LANCASTER, Wis. — Mason Nemitz is a sergeant with the Grant County Sheriff’s Department.
When he first got involved with law enforcement over a decade ago, he didn’t expect to be the primary resource in Grant County when it comes to mental health calls.
“We might go a couple days without having a mental health call, but then there could be another time where we deal with it two, three times a day or we deal with it four or five times a week,” said Nemitz.
Over the years, Nemitz said the number of mental health calls his team has responded to has been on the rise.
The rise in calls is not unique to the Grant County Sheriff’s Department. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported that there were 35,000 crisis calls across the state of Wisconsin in 2021.
One of the first things Nemitz does when responding to a mental health call is to contact Northwest Connections or Unified, which tell him how to assist the person.
If the officer and the mental health expert agree that the person is not dangerous to themselves or others, a safety plan can be put in place.
“This is when experts feel it is safe for those struggling with suicidal thoughts to stay with a family member,” said Nemitz. “During this situation, mental health providers contact them throughout the day and night to make sure everything is going alright.”
Nemitz said the problem arises when people are considered dangerous to themselves or others and must be put in emergency detention. This requires the Grant County Sheriff’s Department to transport that person to one of three mental health facilities throughout the state of Wisconsin.
Nemitz said most often, he ends up having to go to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute, which is a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Grant County.
“That is a long three-and-a-half-hour drive. There is a lot of stuff that can happen in that three and a half hours that people don’t really think about,” said Nemitz.
Grant County Sheriff Nate Dreckman said his team often makes that drive a few times a month, which can be taxing on his already limited staff.
“Typically, we run four deputies a shift and so that pulls two people off a shift for that whole shift pretty much,” said Dreckman.
Driving three and a half hours away from Grant County is not only hard on the sheriff’s department, but also those going through the mental health crisis.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the support of family and friends during a mental health crisis is very important.
Dreckman has been pushing for a bipartisan bill that would create regional mental health crisis centers throughout the state of Wisconsin.
He said this could be the solution to everyone’s problems.
“To me that is probably the most beneficial, looking at a psychiatric ER, where you take them there and they will know exactly what is going on because most situations are over within 24 hours,” said Dreckman.
The bill would spend $10 million of the money already budgeted for mental health to create centers for individuals experiencing a crisis.