Commission seeks YPD mental-health policy and data on unarmed-response training

Commissioners asked whether the Ypsilanti Police Department has a written policy for responding to persons in mental-health crisis. Chief Anderson located the policy during the meeting and identified it as "General Order 4-18, mental health response," and said he would coordinate with the city attorney about releasing a copy to the commission.

The commission discussed the city's contract with LEAP and prior DWIHN training; commissioners asked for measurable effectiveness data such as counts of uses of pepper spray, taser deployments, drawn firearms or hospitalizations connected to police interventions to evaluate whether de-escalation training has reduced force. "I would say, I think some of this training, it is working," Chief Anderson said, referencing fewer uses of force on his watch, but commissioners asked staff to produce standardized reports and, where appropriate, to invite DWIHN or LEAP back with curriculum and outcome data.

Chief Anderson said the county CRU units (a deputy paired with a CMH social worker) can respond when available and that the department will continue analyzing call types to route nonviolent mental-health calls to alternative response options where practical.