Mission mayor, councilwoman highlight police mental-health unit’s crisis response and outreach

Mayor Noree Gonzales Garza and Councilwoman Jessica Ortega used a City of Mission podcast episode to spotlight the Mission Police Department’s mental-health unit and explain how the team responds to crises, trains officers and connects residents to services.

The unit, officers said, was established about five years ago and has grown from two officers to four in part because of federal grant support. "This grant has been in in play for about 3 years already. It's through, BJA," Officer Hernandez said, describing funding that supported two full-time mental-health peace officers and helped expand the unit’s outreach.

Councilwoman Jessica Ortega framed the episode as an effort to inform residents about a rising local need, saying regional rates of depression and anxiety are high; she cited a 14.1 percent adult prevalence and said many children in the Rio Grande Valley experience mental-health issues each year. Ortega introduced the officers and asked them to describe the unit’s day-to-day work.

Officer Hernandez described the unit’s mission as responding to crisis calls, providing community education at events and schools, and offering follow-up after incidents. "What we do is we provide mental health services to the city of Mission, by, attending to crisis calls," he said. He added the unit maintains an anonymous referral form at police headquarters and works with a mental-health screener assigned from Tropical Texas who accompanies the team on calls.

Officer Moreno described a recent call involving active self-harm and the team’s response: removing bystanders, attempting verbal de-escalation, using less-lethal options and finally removing a knife and applying tourniquets. "Eventually saving the life," Moreno said. Hernandez said the individual continues to receive monthly follow-up from the unit and that hospital clinicians told officers the tourniquet likely helped save the person’s life.

The officers described specific training requirements. They said unit members aim to complete at least a 40-hour Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) course annually, an eight-hour verbal de-escalation course, and have pursued hostage-negotiator certification. Hernandez and Moreno said they train other department personnel and serve as CIT instructors for the police academy.

On uniforms and approach, Hernandez said the unit chose green shirts and khaki pants to appear less intimidating and to encourage people in crisis to engage: officers remove uniformed patrol from a scene when appropriate so the unit can lead a softer, clinician‑oriented approach while remaining sworn officers.

For families seeking help, the officers described multiple avenues: residents can call the Mission Police Department at 584-5000 and ask for the mental-health unit; they can file an anonymous form at the department’s front desk; or they can use a Tropical Texas hotline that can dispatch MHOT workers for at-home evaluations or referrals to behavioral hospitals. Hernandez also explained the justice-of-the-peace process for mental-health warrants: family members may apply to a justice of the peace (named in the discussion as Trevino, Segovia and Peña); if a judge finds sufficient criteria, the judge can sign a warrant for evaluation and the unit will execute it and coordinate clinical assessment.

Councilwoman Ortega urged continued grant-seeking to expand the program and said she would share the podcast information at an upcoming council meeting. Ortega also announced a part two of the series that will focus on the Tropical Texas case manager who works with the unit.

The unit provided a direct contact for residents: Mission Police Department, 584-5000, ask for the mental-health unit. The podcast hosts said they would publish a follow-up episode to describe the interagency coordination in more detail.