Baraga Sheriff’s Department to Add Psychiatric Resource

The Baraga County Sheriff’s Department is embarking on a pilot program that could help deputies deal with subjects that are experiencing mental and emotional crisis.

At Monday night’s county commission meeting, Sheriff Joe Brogan explained that a pilot program will enable officials to engage with a trained psychiatrist immediately, while dealing with a troubled citizen in the field.

Deputies will be able to consult by phone or tablet. The psychiatrist can talk directly with the subject, to provide a professional assessment as to whether immediate treatment is needed.

Brogan said deputies currently must make that preliminary assessment on their own…

Field assessments by a trained professional could save time for deputies, and cut back the load at the emergency room. Brogan said an earlier trial in North Dakota resulted in an 80 percent reduction in trips to the emergency room.

The effort is related to a similar program being implemented at Baraga County Memorial Hospital for immediate assessment of walk-in mental health crisis cases. Both trials are being underwritten by the Copper Shores Community Health Foundation.