Residents, advocates and county leaders press for clarity after sheriff alters mental-health dispatch policy

Public testimony at the Jan. 28 Sacramento County Board of Supervisors meeting focused on a recently announced change in the Sheriff's Office approach to mental-health calls, prompting supervisors to ask county staff for additional briefings and to pursue coordination options with behavioral-health providers.

Several speakers from mental-health advocacy groups and local service providers told the board they have grave concerns that reduced sheriff response to behavioral-health incidents will lead to worse outcomes and greater criminalization of people with mental illness. "The sheriff's office's policy to stop answering most mental health calls and to treat the ones they do respond to as criminal major events," Patricia Wenzel said during public comment, adding that funding no longer used for sheriff response should be transferred to behavioral-health response teams.

Board and staff reaction

County Executive David Villanueva told the board…