Law enforcement share plan for mental health and substance abuse crisis

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.- The Rotary Club of Bowling Green hosted local law enforcement Wednesday to discuss the mental health and substance abuse crisis in our community.

When responding to crisis calls, both the Bowling Green Police Department and Warren County Sheriff’s Office can spend multiple hours on just one call.

Both agencies are partnering with other local organizations to look at different ways to reduce times for evaluations by mental health professionals and reallocate hours to other emergency calls.

The Warren County Sheriff’s Office has received a three-year grant for this project.  Warren County, Sheriff Brett Hightower, says,  “We’re going to be able to partner and have what’s called a “CRU.” It’s a crisis response unit which will include one of our deputies and a qualified mental health professional. They will be going out as well when we receive calls, meeting with these individuals, trying to get them redirected into other resources here locally that they can take advantage of.”

The Crisis Response Unit will include both a deputy and a qualified mental health professional and this unit will be fully operational by the fall.