WAUSAU POLICING TASK FORCE MINUTES Date/Time: Monday, May 10, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. Location: City Council Chambers – 407 Grant St, Wausau Members present: John Robinson, William Harris, Patrick Peckham, Michael Loy, Sarah Schneck, Members absent: Michael Klemp-North, Kayley McColley Others Present: Katie Rosenberg, Benjamin Bliven, Jean Frankel, Kristin Sorenson In accordance with Chapter 19, Wisconsin State Statutes, notice of this meeting was posted at Wausau City Hall, and emailed to the Wausau Daily Herald in the proper manner. Meeting was called to order at 6:34 pm by John Robinson. Vote on previous minutes: Motion to approve brought by William Harris, seconded by Patrick Peckham. Passed unanimously. Presentation by Michael Loy, CEO of North Central Health Care on Mental Health Crisis Services. Every county needs to provide basic emergency mental health services, which includes immediate evaluation (can be via telephone,) availability of emergency services (face to face follow up,) and have assigned responsibility, staff and resources. The next tier beyond basic allows for billing to Medicaid for 60% of costs, and the balance is paid by county tax levy. Need to have mobile crisis 8 hours a day during peak hours, 7 days a week. Walk in service 8 hours/5 days; short term voluntary or involuntary hospitalization (NCHC has 16 adult 8 youth beds); and 24 hour linkage and coordination services. This is the level that Marathon County is at. The four elements of emergency mental health services are: emergency detention, settlements and commitments, voluntary treatment, and addiction services – alcohol and other drugs. What are the necessary elements for an emergency commitment? Has mental illness, danger to self or other, and is treatable. Addiction, in and of itself, is not emergent. Because the person’s civil liberties are being removed, there is a required legal standard (police) in addition to the medical standard. Priority is safety, especially of the staff. Goal is voluntary treatment, as that has best long term outcome. To be admitted, must have medical clearance. First, they need to be sure that the issue is not a manifestation of a medical issue, and second, there are no medical facilities at NCHC, so assurance is needed that the person is not likely to have a medical crisis. Because the police have custody originally, and NCHC cannot accept custody until medical clearance is met, the police have to handle the transport and supervision until that person is admitted to NCHC. Settlement v. commitment. Once taken into custody, there must be a hearing within 72 hours. If court agrees burden has been met for commitment, the client can agree to comply voluntarily for 90 days (settlement.) If they fail to meet the conditions, the court can move to full involuntary commitment. Involuntary commitments are 6 months – 1 year at a time. This is very significant, as you are taking someone’s civil liberties away. Commitment must be administered in the least restrictive environment possible. They are committed not only to treatment, but treatment supervised by NCHC. There are typically 250 individuals on commitment at any given time in the county. Non-compliance is different for legal v. commitment. Doesn’t necessarily necessitate a move to more restrictive – that necessity is easier to justify when a level of dangerousness is present. This whole process is only set up for mental health crises, not for addiction. A state group has made recommendations to reform state’s crisis mental health response. They would like to see regional crisis stabilization facilities, peer support respite centers, and CART programs. Our Cart has brought down our CFS and 51.15s significantly. Also would like to see regional crisis assessment services, enhanced commitment based treatment for suicidality; CIT training; additional mental health bed space; medical clearance simplification; bed tracker, expanded telemedicine, transport/cooperation across state lines (for areas close to state borders); and more discussion and promotion of regional innovations. We have several of these already going in the county. Funding is important… many are requested in the current budget discussions. Upcoming for NCHC: psychiatric emergency department; modern mental health system; future of addiction services – on demand 5 bed detox/40 bed long term treatment/outpatient; beyond linkage and follow up – support services for the family of the patient. Targeted case management to work with recovering patients. Really would like comprehensive program. Discussion on action to support state budget crisis initiatives: This includes the regional crisis centers budget item, the regional crisis stabilization facilities budget item, and a budget item for more collaboration with law enforcement. A motion to support these budget items was made by William Harris, and seconded by Patrick Peckham. No further discussion; passed unanimously. Future agenda items: Wausau PD would like to have a Use of Force training session for the committee. The members will be contacted regarding availability on upcoming weeknight. We have received the draft questionnaire from WIPPS. This was handed out. Please review and forward comments to Eric Giordano. Chairman Robinson has created a list of all the recommendations from the President’s Commission, WPA and the Speaker’s Task Force into one spreadsheet. He would like the committee to look that over and discuss what recommendations the committee might like to make. The next meeting will be May 19, 2021 at 6:30 pm in council chambers. Meeting adjourned at 7:52 pm. Wausau Policing: Community Perceptions Start of Block: Default Question Block Overview Dear Wausau Community Member: The City of Wausau has created a task force, made up of citizens/residents along with representatives from the city government and the Wausau Police, to ensure that policing in Wausau is protecting our health, safety, and general well-being. The Wausau Policing Task Force needs to hear from you about how the Wausau Police are doing! To do that, the Wausau Policing Task Force has asked the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service to create a public survey to gather information about how the community feels about policing in Wausau. The Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service will share the results of this public survey with the City of Wausau and the Wausau Policing Task Force to help them make decisions about policing policies and procedures in Wausau. The survey should take you about 15 minutes to complete. If you require assistance in completing the survey, you may contact ________. Your participation in the survey is entirely voluntary. You are under no obligation to answer any question or to complete the survey. If you skip a question or decide not to complete the survey, it will not affect your rights and benefits as a resident or guest of the City of Wausau. You will not receive payment for completing the survey. The survey will not ask you to record your name or any identifying information. Your responses will be entirely anonymous and cannot be traced back to you. Your responses to short-answer questions may be quoted in the report of the survey, but you will not be identified in that quote. The survey poses little to no physical risk to you. The survey asks you to share experiences you may have had with Wausau Law Enforcement that may cause you emotional distress or discomfort. The survey provides you with an opportunity to help steer Wausau policing policies and procedures. If you have questions about this survey, you may contact: Dr. Eric Giordano Director, Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service (WIPPS) ADDRESS email: [email protected] Phone number: We look forward to hearing your views! If you agree to complete the survey, please click the arrow button at the bottom of this screen to begin the survey. Page 1 of 21 Section 1 Intro In this first section of the survey, we would like to hear about your perceptions of the Wausau Police Department. General 1 How would you grade the overall performance of the Wausau Police Department? o A: Excellent (1) o B: Good (2) o C: Fair (3) o D: Poor (4) o F: Failing (5) General 2 How confident are you in the ability of the Wausau Police Department to do a good job of enforcing the law? o Not at all confident (1) o Slightly confident (2) o Moderately confident (3) o Quite confident (4) o Extremely confident (5) General 3 How confident are you in the ability of the Wausau Police Department to do a good job of protecting public safety? o Not at all confident (1) o Slightly confident (2) o Moderately confident (3) o Quite confident (4) o Extremely confident (5) General 4 How confident are you in the ability of the Wausau Police Department to do a good job of promoting community health and well-being? o Not at all confident (1) o Slightly confident (2) o Moderately confident (3) o Quite confident (4) o Extremely confident (5) Page 2 of 21 Community Please rate the extent to which you agree or disagree with each statement. Neither Strongly Strongly Disagree (2) agree nor Agree (4) disagree (1) agree (5) disagree (3) The Wausau Police Department is open and forthcoming to the community about their actions. (1) o o o o o The Wausau Police Department makes it easy for members of the community to provide their input. (3) o o o o o The Wausau Police Department is committed to working with community members to solve local o o o o o problems. (2) WPD for help Please rate the extent to which you agree or disagree with each statement. Neither Strongly Strongly Disagree (2) agree nor Agree (4) disagree (1) agree (5) disagree (3) I feel comfortable approaching the Wausau Police with my problems or concerns.