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Cochise County sheriff highlights care team as 911 alternative, credits Legacy Foundation support
Summary
Leaders from the Cochise County Sheriff's Office described an expanded 'care team' that responds with 911 dispatch to behavioral-health and other noncriminal crises, saying the unit connects residents to treatment, housing and other services and reduces arrests and jail bookings.
Dr. B, leader of the Cochise County Sheriff's Office care team, told KWCD's First Watch that the unit is an alternate 911 response for behavioral-health and other crises that are not primarily crime, fire or medical emergencies.
"So the care team is the the care team is the community assistance, response, and engagement team. And we are an alternate response unit within the Cochise County Sheriff's Office," Dr. B said. She described the unit as part of emergency services that dispatches on calls the county's CECOM/dispatch center deems appropriate for behavioral-health or de-escalation assistance.
The care team, Dr. B said, responds when a scene is deemed safe by law enforcement or when multiple agencies and a family are overwhelmed and need noncriminal support. "Sometimes, it is for obvious behavioral health reasons. They have something in the lines of anxiety, depression, hallucinations...We connect them to mental health services," she said.
Sheriff Mark J. Daniels framed the team as a tool to prevent arrests and reduce pressure on jails and the wider criminal-justice system. "If it's mental health that is the causation and the why, let's get them in the right resource instead of clogging up a jail that's already in dire need," he said, adding that the county's courts and systems are already backlogged.
Dr. B described a range of services the team provides: crisis stabilization, referrals to community mental-health and medical agencies, housing coordination, assistance finding long-term care and substance-use treatment, and practical help such as addressing unsafe living conditions. She said the team also handles follow-up visits after a 911 call when immediate danger has passed but recurring crises remain.
Funding for the care team comes in part from a grant administered by the Legacy Foundation, Dr. B said. The program was a major award in a Legacy Foundation grant cycle focused on behavioral-health capacity across the county; the transcript did not specify the grant award date. Dr. B said the Foundation's funding gave the team flexibility to be creative in coordinating county and community resources.
Both speakers gave examples of the team's work. Dr. B recounted one high-acuity household where the team, county partners and community volunteers collaborated to clear significant safety and habitability obstacles; she said the family continued to work with providers and that the immediate crisis was resolved. Sheriff Daniels also told a separate anecdote about deputies and the care team responding to a person reportedly jumping into traffic; he said the care team arrived within about 15 minutes and the person was transported for treatment rather than being jailed.
The care team is integrated with the county's 911 dispatch and coordinates with other mental-health resources, including the crisis mobile units tied to the 988 system, Dr. B said. She emphasized that the team's purpose is to "untangle the mess" of underlying problems—housing, legal, medical, social—that lead people to repeatedly call 911 and to reduce the likelihood of repeated emergency calls.
Dr. B and Sheriff Daniels also said the unit works with other county agencies and community partners and that the Legacy Foundation grant facilitated cross‑agency coordination. Dr. B said she expects continued follow-up work with families the team has engaged and emphasized the role of community volunteers and formal county resources when scaled-up physical work is required at a household.
The sheriff's office encourages residents to view a video about the care team's work posted to the sheriff's Facebook page; Dr. B said the video highlights both a high-acuity response and the longer-term community follow-up that the team provides.
The care-team leaders said their goals are to reduce emergency-system burden, keep people safer in the community and connect residents to services that prevent future 911 calls. They asked residents to refer people to the team through 911 or through sheriff's-office channels when appropriate.
