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Shot by troubled gunman a year ago, South St. Paul officer now part of effort to defuse mental health calls

Saint Paul Pioneer Press - 7/15/2019

Jul. 15--Not a day goes by that Derek Kruse doesn't think about how he was shot in the line of duty -- and if a similar incident can be prevented.

That's part of his job.

Kruse has a new role within South St. Paul police, one that is focused on bringing a more coordinated response to mental health calls and taking a more proactive approach to people dealing with the illness.

A year ago Friday, Dustin Bilderback, a group home resident with a history of mental illness, grabbed a shotgun from his car and fired at Kruse and three other South St. Paul police officers. Officer Todd Waters was struck by pellets in the back, neck and arm; Kruse was hit in the left calf.

"It impacts me to this day," Kruse, 31, said. "My whole thing was, how could this happen? How did it get to the point where this was allowed to happen?"

Kruse's new role is possible because of a Dakota County Social Services' pilot program that started in January with collaboration between South St. Paul and West St. Paul police. It follows similar programs that have been employed in recent years in a few other cities, including St. Paul.

Emily Schug, Dakota County Social Services deputy director, said bridging the gap between law enforcement, mental health providers and those living in the community with mental health issues is critical at a time when calls for service are increasing across the board.

To try to close that gap, Kruse and West St. Paul officer Jesse Mettner work as liaisons with a mental health coordinator who is embedded within the police departments. The coordinator, Kalyn Bassett, follows up on crisis calls with the officers; reviews calls for service to try to determine if there is a mental health component; and works to connect people with mental health resources with the hope of ultimately cutting down on the need for officers to be called for crisis situations. She also has gone out with officers on calls.

Kruse said he believes the work will pay off.

"Only through open communication could such a tragedy be prevented again," he said.

'HOW DO WE DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT'

Before the pilot program, Dakota County Social Services staff and the police chiefs in South St. Paul and West St. Paul had been at the table for several years discussing and planning ways on how to better respond to mental health issues.

Both cities are among the oldest in the county and have high amounts of affordable housing. That often makes them the choice for people who receive state supportive housing services, said South St. Paul Police Chief Bill Messerich.

That has led to an increased strain on police, fire and EMS services from people who suffer from mental illness, he said.

"We've been at the table saying, 'How do we do something different so that the concentration levels can be decreased in these two cities?' " he said. The shooting "pushed it over the edge," he said.

Schug agrees, saying that while the "unique pressures" put everyone at the same table, the "tragic shooting spurred the impetus to get this going."

But the commitment from the two cities -- dedicating community engagement officers Kruse and Mettner to the pilot -- was the key, Schug said.

"This partnership and model really isn't possible unless the resources are dedicated on both sides," she said. "So with all of those factors at play it made sense to do this as a pilot with these two cities.

"And I think as we're demonstrating the partnership and community benefits of this we certainly have other departments that are interested in talking about the potential for expansion."

OUTREACH PAYING OFF

The model is employed in about a half-dozen larger communities in Minnesota, including Minneapolis, Duluth and Rochester.

A year ago, St. Paul police started embedding a licensed clinical social worker into its mental health unit. People Incorporated -- the Twin Cities' largest community-based provider of mental health services -- pays for the full-time position.

Soon, Regions Hospital added a licensed clinical social worker to serve with mental health officers.

The two social workers do co-response -- going out on calls with police officers trying to figure out if people need additional services -- and aftercare and case management.

"We also now have opioid outreach and homeless outreach out of our unit, too," said Amber Ruth, a People Incorporated social worker who is embedded at the St. Paul police headquarters building.

People Incorporated hopes to replicate the model within other police departments.

The results have been promising in Duluth, according to city officials. Since last year's creation of the police department's mental health unit -- consisting of two dedicated officers and two embedded St. Louis County social workers -- there has been a 31 percent reduction in calls for service among those with regular police contacts.

Late last year, Maplewood launched a mental health unit where police, firefighters and paramedics reach out to frequent 911 callers who showed signs mental illness. The unit does not have a social worker working alongside them, however.

"There are a lot of different variations of that model," Schug said. "I think probably all models have their benefits. From our experience, we've really seen the benefit of the police response paired with the social services response and being able to connect people with that array of more community-based social services."

HOW IT WORKS

Since the start of the Dakota County program, West St. Paul has averaged 25 cases, South St. Paul 35.

There have been dozens of success stories, Mettner said. One that stands out to Mettner is a West St. Paul woman who threatened to harm herself. Mettner and Bassett, the mental health coordinator, made initial contact and established a foundation with the woman, who was fearful of Mettner.

"She had issues with males and issues with police officers," he said.

On a second visit, the relationship and trust was there and they were able to find her services. When Mettner and Bassett learned she didn't have a ride to an appointment, they took her there and drove her back home.

"Those are the types of things a regular police officer would not be able to do because of the time," Mettner said. "But that is really important to us and whether or not we are continuing to go to that address for more calls of self-harm in the future."

That flexibility is important, Bassett said.

"I don't have defined roles, whereas a case manager or someone like that has a sort of sweet spot they can cover," she said. "And if it's outside of that they say, 'Call this service.' I can kind of do what is helpful in the moment."

That on-the-spot help during a crisis combined with bringing people services quicker than a county case manager or crisis response unit "makes the world of difference," said West St. Paul Interim Police Chief Brian Sturgeon.

"At least from our perspective, people were falling through the cracks of the system," he said. "There's a lot of work to be done with the system, and this is a part that us in law enforcement think is great way that we can get involved."

IT COULD HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE

Kruse said the pilot program might have prevented last year's shooting in South St. Paul.

Bilderback was on a provisional discharge from the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter after having been committed in 2009 as mentally ill and dangerous out of Anoka County. In the days before the shooting, Bilderback showed signs of paranoia and was no longer allowing a nurse into his apartment to set up and monitor his medication, according to Anoka County court documents. He also fought with residents.

"None of those signs were being communicated to us, even the day of by neighboring residents," Kruse said. "They didn't know what to tell us, what they could say.

"But the hope is that having people freely speak to us now, that we will then know if there is somebody who is causing issues. And we can provide that support."

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