BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer
Mental health experts will soon be on hand to assist Redwood City police when they deal with people who are suffering from psychiatric problems.
Redwood City Mayor Diane Howard announced last night (Sept. 21) that the city’s police department, in concert with South San Francisco and San Mateo’s police departments, will be starting a pilot program to help those in mental health crises.
Howard said that the program will be similar to those in Eugene, Ore., Berkeley and San Diego, where clinicians attend to mental health calls with police.
Palo Alto is working on a similar program, the Post reported two weeks ago.
Howard added that the three cities in San Mateo County working on adding clinicians to calls are working with Stanford to come up with aspects of the program.
The program is expected to begin in early 2021.
In Redwood City, resident and Palo Alto school teacher Kyle Hart was shot and killed by an officer in December 2018 while suffering from a mental health crisis.
