CARROLLTON, Ga. (AP) - A west Georgia county is launching a mobile crisis unit to handle emergency psychiatric calls.
The Times-Georgian reports Carroll County will launch the unit next year, responding to any call that 911 dispatchers identify as a mental health crisis.
A two-person team will be dispatched. One member will be Chiquita Thomasson, a Carrollton police officer and certified paramedic. The second member will be a licensed professional counselor yet to be selected.
The team won't wear uniforms and will drive an unmarked, donated 2020 Ford Explorer.
Thomason said the aim is to avoid the intimidation that police can sometimes bring, encouraging people to see the team as there to help, not arrest or hospitalize them.
The team will also check on people encountered in earlier calls.
Thomasson said psychiatric calls arrive daily to police agencies, ranging from anxiety to people experiencing a full-blown manic state.
She said first responders are often choosing between arresting someone for a nuisance crime or sending the person to the hospital. This de-escalation unit adds a third option.
"They don't have to go sit at the jail; they don't have to go to the hospital," Thomasson said.
The unit could also help save money by reducing the number of first responders that are dispatched.