Police Advisory Commission hears STAX update on homelessness response and mobile crisis

The Police Advisory Commission on Wednesday heard a detailed update on STAX (South Tahoe Alternative Collaborative Services), the local program that pairs law enforcement with behavioral-health partners to respond to homelessness and mental-health crises in South Lake Tahoe.

Officer Matt Hazlet, who runs STAX for the South Lake Police Department, told the commission the team’s work focuses on outreach to people experiencing homelessness and co-responses with clinicians. Hazlet said STAX has referred dozens of people into housing and service pathways and has shifted many mental-health calls to clinicians: "Now a lot of our mental-health calls…we're able to have Sierra Mental Wellness respond whether that's by phone or in the field," Hazlet said. He reported that since April 2023 he has handled about 1,394 incidents, taken 191…