Clear Creek County expresses interest in crisis response team after deadly shooting
Clear Creek County expresses interest in a crisis response team after the deadly shooting of Christian Glass
It's been almost 4 months since Glass, 22, was shot and killed in Silver Plume and Clear Creek County Commissioners are now searching for ways to create a less deadly response to people in crisis.
The board of county commissioners took time Tuesday during their normal meeting to address the options open to them with crisis management response teams. Right now, the county has a partnership with the Jefferson Center for Mental Health in Jefferson County to make use of their resources, but those are not exactly close or timely in the event they need to respond to an emergency like Glass's. They were also not called that night.
EMS in the county has mentioned they really only have two options when it comes to their response, either take the person in crisis to a hospital, drugging them if they need to, or call another health service and leave a message, then leave the scene. EMS said their team does not have the training to respond to a specific mental health crisis.
The Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office and the Sheriff himself, Rick Albers, attended the meeting, discussing what they have been able to do when people call 911 with a mental health crisis.
"I don't think you guys know everything that we do," Albers said.
Albers did say he was receptive to a task force being added as a response to mental crisis, and said this needed to happen "now."
County commissioners mentioned they started a process to try and get mental health response and crisis response teams set up two years prior but did not get far. Now they're hoping to make serious traction and fast.
A concerned Clear Creek County resident, David Dunlop, said he's like to see mental health crisis responders in the county but wants to see more done to reprimand the deputy who shot Glass.
"It will definitely be an improvement, but we also need the buy-in from the individuals who are on the streets with people," Dunlop said.
The decision to charge the deputy in the Glass shooting is with the DA, and will likely head to a grand jury next.
