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Dakota County officers using app to ID, help people who have mental illness, disabilities

Saint Paul Pioneer Press - 3/11/2018

March 11--Nancy Nelson worries about her son's safety whenever he leaves their Farmington house alone.

Jacob, 21, has developmental disabilities, with an IQ of a 5-year-old. He has profound speech apraxia, which means he has a hard time communicating.

"He's extremely vulnerable," Nelson said.

But her fears for his safety have diminished since she enrolled him in an app-based service that helps law enforcement officers interact with people with developmental disabilities, mental illness or dementia.

Dakota County recently became the first county in Minnesota to roll out the service, which was developed by Vitals Aware Services, a Golden Valley-based tech company, in partnership with the Autism Society of Minnesota.

Over the past two months, about 500 city police officers and sheriff's deputies have been trained to use Vitals. The county's park rangers also have the app.

The voluntary service was launched in August in St. Paul as a pilot program and has since expanded to Roseville, Chaska, Hopkins and the Three Rivers Park District.

People who want the police to know about their conditions, such as autism, diabetes or dementia, wear a "beacon" transmitter. The beacon can take the form of a cellphone, keychain, necklace, debit card or bracelet.

When a Vitals user comes within 80 feet of an officer using the service, the officer will receive a cellphone notification about the person's diagnosis and how to best interact.

So far, about 400 people are paying for the service, which costs $9.95 a month or $120 a year, said Stan Alleyne, chief of communications and partnerships at Vitals.

ONE MORE TOOL FOR OFFICERS

Alleyne said state data show that about 70,000 people in Dakota County could benefit from the service.

"We're excited with Dakota County because they came in together, all the departments and social services," he said, adding the cost for police departments is about $8 a month per officer. "It's a complete rollout."

Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie said law enforcement "must have all the tools in the tool belt."

"Technology is changing the way we should do police work, the way we should interact with customers, constituents, the people we're sworn to protect," he said. "And this service is an example of that."

Dakota County Social Services is helping connect people to funding for the service if they are determined eligible for financial assistance.

The county is working to address the problem of mental illness as it shows up in the criminal justice system, said Angela Lockhart, the county's integrated service delivery coordinator.

"One of the things that we're focused on is figuring out alternatives for law enforcement when they come into contact with people who have mental health issues or disabilities or other physical or behavioral challenges so that jail doesn't become a default option because they don't know where else to take them," she said. "A lot of times, detox isn't appropriate or the threshold for emergency room admission is not appropriate, either."

HELPS PREVENT MISCOMMUNICATION

West St. Paul Police Chief Bud Shaver introduced the service to the city council at a recent meeting. He said about 30 percent of the department's 26,000 calls for service annually involve a person having a mental crisis or a disorder that can hinder communication with an officer.

"So our workloads have changed quite a bit and we need to serve these residents the best we can," he said. "Unfortunately, sometimes their mannerisms and the way a police officer presents himself can create some communication issues. And sometimes those communications are misconstrued and unfortunate things happen."

City council member John Bellows called the service "one of the most innovative, encouraging things I've seen in a long time."

"The risks that are involved for people who have these kinds of problems are just incredible," he said. "They don't know how to deal with police officers ... they're afraid of authority."

Nelson recalled an interaction her son had with officers about two years ago when he was riding his electric scooter and wasn't compliant. He rode home upset and in tears.

"It could have ended really different if Jacob were showing any signs of what a police officer would think of as being aggressive or more noncompliant," she said.

Now, with the service, she said, Jacob doesn't feel threatened by police officers and has even approached them in a friendly manner and introduced himself, mentioning to them he has a beacon on his keychain.

"Families like mine spend so much time and effort doing whatever we can to bridge the gap between our loved ones and the community," Nelson said, calling the Vitals app the perfect tool to bridge that gap.

"I am so thankful to have some extra peace knowing that if there was an emergency with Jacob or an encounter with any first responder, they would instantly have all the important information they need to handle any situation appropriately."

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