Southeast Ohio law enforcement officers face a ‘revolving door’ mental health crisis
By: Abigail Semple
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Law enforcement officers in southeast Ohio are on the frontlines of a “revolving door” mental health crisis that they feel ill-equipped to handle. Meanwhile, mental health officials say their hands are tied concerning the matter, despite their efforts to address the situation.
In counties like Athens and Vinton, many of the calls received by law enforcement are mental health-related, some of which are linked to substance abuse.
Athens County Sheriff Rodney Smith said his deputies alone respond to more than 500 mental health-related calls annually. One of Smith’s deputies, Zayne Preston, described the situation as a “revolving door.”
“I would say a majority of our calls in one way, or another are directly related to mental health … we don’t have an option. We take them to the hospital, but within hours they’re back out,” Preston said.
Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain said his deputies are overwhelmed by mental health-related emergencies. Similar to Athens County’s situation, he noted that people taken to hospitals for mental evaluation are often released within 48 hours and return home with few restrictions.
Law enforcement is frustrated because officers don’t have the expertise to treat people in a mental health crisis and the experts who do are not always available to provide the needed support. This is in part due to a shortage of licensed mental health providers.
When a person experiencing a mental health crisis is taken to a hospital, only a hospital licensed by the Ohio Department of Mental Health can hold that person for up to 72 hours if certain criteria are met. Otherwise, the person is free to go and may not receive any follow-up care or otherwise be connected with services. Also, even if follow-up care is offered, they have the right to refuse it.
“We are the gatekeepers,” said Chaz Canter, director of crisis services at Hopewell Health Centers. “We are not involved in whether or not they stay for less than three days or more than three days in psychiatric hospital.”
Cain said his deputies routinely respond to calls involving suicide threats, delusions and domestic disputes — often tied to long-term drug use, particularly methamphetamine.
“Mental health crimes range from suicide attempts, suicide threats, domestic violence. Some of them are actual health conditions that kind of fuel a mental health crisis where maybe they have a deteriorating brain or some kind of infection,” he explained.
Cain noted that his deputies are compelled to return weapons to those who were previously threatening to end their lives or to harm someone else and were released from the hospital. He recalled instances where individuals made good on their threat to take their own lives or to harm someone else after being released and receiving their weapons back.
“I’ve taken guns from the same people many, many times throughout my career, and some of them have committed suicide, and some of them have committed homicide,” he said.
Athens Chief of Police Nick Magruder mirrored the sentiments of the two sheriffs, noting that his officers are routinely responding to situations they’re not trained to handle. Magruder estimates that 60% of the calls they get are mental health related.
“I think a majority of what law enforcement does now is dealing with mental health crises,” he said. “If it’s not just responding to (a) welfare check or someone that’s not acting straight, someone we may think that’s on drugs, it may … be … a mental health crisis.”
Mental health professionals say the frustration felt by law enforcement is rooted in systemic and legal limitations beyond their control. Acknowledging the “revolving door” phenomenon, Canter attributes it to limitations in insurance coverage and a legal framework that often only supports short-term stabilization.
“If someone calls and says, ‘Hey, I have someone who is in crisis who really needs to speak to someone,’ we’ll ask a few follow-up questions and we’ll say, ‘Is it safe for us to come? Are there any weapons? Is the person violent? If they’re nonviolent … and they want someone to talk … with them, about their suicidality or their homicidal thoughts, or if they’re experiencing psychosis, I have a team that can go and they will meet with them and figure out a plan,” Canter explained.
He added the plan may involve connecting the individual with support persons or, if they request hospitalization, transporting them directly to a medical facility, bypassing law enforcement involvement to reduce stigma and public scrutiny. However, the service is only available in Athens County from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and expansion to the surrounding Hocking and Vinton counties is hindered by a severe staffing shortage in southeast Ohio.
This limited assistance by mental health professionals puts a strain on counties like Vinton. Cain emphasized that his law enforcement officers are grappling with significant staffing shortages and limited resources while trying to respond to an increasing number of mental health-related incidents.
While Cain described law enforcement as being “peace officers” who are often expected to handle complex mental health crises, Canter emphasized the need for more qualified professionals to extend hours of operation and better support law enforcement after hours, when many of the calls come in.
Another resource is the Access to Wellness program, which provides flexible funding to remove barriers to recovery, such as transportation, housing, food and even job-related needs. Canter said Hopewell employs a hospital liaison to schedule post-psychiatric appointments within 14 days and provides a crisis case manager for transitional support. However, individuals have the right to decline services.
Also available in Athens County is the Adam and Amanda Center — a 16-bed crisis residential facility that serves as a transitional step between hospitalization and home. Like a rehab center, it allows individuals to continue recovery in a supportive, voluntary environment.
Despite these efforts by the 317 Board and Hopewell, many people are still not getting the attention they need. Law enforcement officials like Cain have expressed frustration at the fact that they are not updated on the status of people they take to the hospital.
“In my experience, it’s no more than 48 hours, that person is back at this office, and … there’s no real communication from the hospital to us,” Cain said.
This, according to 317 Board members, is due to HIPAA laws, which govern patient privacy. Sherri Tyree, planning and quality director at the 317 Board, explained that only a legal guardian can receive updates on the patient.
Diane Pfaff, the 317 Board’s executive director, also acknowledged there’s more work to be done to improve the state of mental health care in southeast Ohio. She noted that statewide limitations worsen the issue, particularly the shortage of available psychiatric beds. Most state hospital beds, she said, are reserved for criminal cases, leaving few options for civil patients.
Apart from the aforementioned programs and initiatives, the 317 Board also holds bimonthly crisis response meetings with emergency departments, 911 dispatchers, clinicians and law enforcement. Tyree said the meetings are held to review data, share concerns and identify solutions.
Tyree noted that while Athens and Hocking counties are active participants, Vinton County law enforcement has not been in attendance since the year started. Cain explained that while his office has been unable to attend the meetings due to staffing shortages and time constraints, the 317 Board continues to receive the county’s data.
The 317 Board also offers crisis intervention training to law enforcement. Meanwhile, the emotional toll weighs heavily on officers who are expected to switch from law enforcer to crisis counselor in an instant.
To help his team, Athens County deputy Zayne Preston launched the Peaceful Encounter Program — a voluntary registry that provides deputies with tips for interacting with individuals who struggle with mental illness. The idea behind the program, Preston said, is to alert deputies on whether or not they are dealing with a mental health situation.
“The goal of the program was if somebody who is diagnosed with autism or schizophrenia or anything like that, provides us with their information, we know beforehand. That way we don’t come into it thinking it’s something else,” he explained.
One registered participant, Preston said, responds positively to conversations about Pokémon. “I can talk to him for 40 minutes about Pokémon if that helps him feel better until we figure out what we’re going to do in that situation. … All it is, is more or less us trying to de-escalate a call before we ever even set foot on scene,” he said.
Jordan Pepper, executive director of the Athens chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, called for increased state funding to expand the crisis team to a 24/7 model and reduce the burden on law enforcement.
Pepper confirmed that while organizations like NAMI and the 317 Board offer support and advocacy, the broader system cannot provide sustained care. She believes the solution lies in wraparound services such as long-term case management, outpatient programs and peer support, rather than emergency rooms or police response.
Pepper also advocated for the training of peer support workers, community health aides and volunteers to assist individuals with tasks like medication management and follow-up care. However, according to Canter, certification and licensure requirements remain a barrier to onboarding non-degreed volunteers for direct intervention roles.
“What I would like to see is our state take a different approach to mental health, one that’s similar to the Board of Developmental Disabilities, which is a county agency (that) has staff with longevity,” Pepper said.
The current mental health infrastructure, according to Pepper, is fragmented and short-staffed, causing individuals to fall through the cracks. For now, law enforcement continues to fill the gaps: transporting, calming, protecting — but rarely treating.
“They’re released back out, which isn’t productive,” Preston said. “I wish there was something, some magic button to make the problem go away.”