Resource shortage puts more police on scene of mental health crises, workers say

YORK COUNTY, S.C. — “Why are police officers the ones responding to those in mental health crises?” asked York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson.

Tolson asked the question Wednesday while defending his deputies, who shot a man back in 2021 as that man reportedly was going through a mental health crisis.

The sheriff said his officers are responding to more suicides and suicide attempts than ever, so on Thursday, Channel 9′s Tina Terry took his question to local mental health workers and state lawmakers. She asked them if police should be involved in these types of calls.

Experts told Terry if there were more resources to help with the mental health crisis in York County, there would be fewer situations where police have to get involved.

Video sent to Channel 9 shows York County deputies and negotiators at a Fort Mill hotel parking lot on Tuesday. They said they were “peacefully working to resolve an incident with an armed person barricaded in his car.” It ended without injury, but the next day, Tolson said his officers are responding to more and more calls for people in mental health distress.

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“I’m tired because so many police are forced to take on so many roles that should not be the responsibility of law enforcement. Then we face criticism,” he said.

He said the York County Sheriff’s Office has responded to more than 1,600 suicide, attempted suicide, or well-being checks between 2018 and 2022.

“We are very behind on resources,” said Kati Durkee, who’s with the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Terry asked her if police should be responding to mental health crises.

“By the time someone is in the car with a knife or a gun, it requires law enforcement. There is no intervention at that point besides trying tell that person to put the gun down -- to tell someone to put the gun down, to get out the car, to come to the police officers,” she explained.

But she said York County is in desperate need of more resources that could prevent people from getting to that point.

“It’s a lack of inpatient beds, it’s a lack of accessibility to these step-down programs that we know really work,” Durkee said.

She said York County only has 20 inpatient beds for people in a mental health crisis, but almost 300,000 residents. And she said even those who get help have few resources once they’re released to keep them on the right path.

“If you can’t attend those partial hospital programs and those step-down programs, you’re on your own, so you’re back to your own devices,” she said.

Lawmaker Wes Climer told Terry the current state budget has $5 million for mental health transport. He said that money will pay for mental health workers to take over some of these mental health calls from police. He also said both the government and the private sector are working to bring more mental health beds to the area.

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