|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The City Council plans to review how San Ramon’s police and firefighters respond to non-violent mental health emergencies with a discussion Tuesday about a new “Public Safety for Mental Health” pilot project.
Created amid increasing scrutiny of policing nationwide, particularly when it comes to police responding to mental health emergencies, city officials say the pilot program is geared toward reducing avoidable law enforcement engagements and improving care for residents facing mental health crises — achieving those goals by integrating first responders into a specialized mental health and tactical training education plan.
“San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District is proud of the service and level of care we provide our community and feel that we play an integral role in the healthcare system as patient advocates,” SRVFPD staff said in a report to the council.
“As communities across the nation adapt to the increase in demand for better mental health care, the clear message is the need for change. Partnering with the San Ramon Police Department, we are excited to be innovative leaders in the creation of an efficient and effective solution,” they added.
The plan proposes integrated specialized mental health education for emergency paramedics, firefighters and law enforcement, in addition to de-escalation and crisis management on an ongoing basis.
The idea is that after going through the program, highly trained first responders can assess calls that involve mental health emergencies and determine if police are needed in order to secure the situation, or if fire and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel will be adequate in handling care.
Police will still respond to incidents classified as being potentially “violent” where the person experiencing the crisis is considered a danger to themselves or others; however if that is not the case then EMS and firefighters can provide care as needed.
For appropriate situations, fire staff say that ambulances equipped with video conferencing technology can connect people with experts capable of assessment and de-escalation.
The program also includes outreach efforts to help care for residents before emergencies evolve as well as ways the practice of identifying where frequent calls are made so individual strategies can be created for specific residents or areas.
While increased review of policing and mental health care has become a national conversation, locally fire officials say that a significant increase in calls for mental health emergencies has created a necessity for San Ramon to also be a part of the conversation.
“Over the past decade behavioral health emergencies continue to rise at an alarming rate,” SRVFPD staff said. “20% annual increase in behavioral/mental health calls in the city of San Ramon over the past several years has resulted in less resources and extended ambulance wait times upon hospital arrival.”
“The city of San Ramon accounts for 50% of all district behavioral/mental health calls,” they added.
Fire officials added that the pilot program will be a joint venture between the SRVFPD, San Ramon police and Contra Costa Health Services.
The San Ramon City Council’s regular meeting is set to be held virtually at 7 p.m. on Tuesday (May 11). Interested residents can view the meeting on the city’s YouTube page or on its Zoom account using webinar ID 968 7116 6768.
To comment during the video conference, participants will need to sign into the Zoom meeting and click the “Raise Your Hand” button or dial “*9” if calling in by phone. Residents who do so will be logged as wanting to comment and will be unmuted when it is their turn to speak. As always, speakers will have up to three minutes to leave their comments.
In other business
* Following the receipt of updated population data from the 2020 U.S. census, San Ramon is among the many cities in the country that will need to redistrict their boundaries for City Council districts and city officials plan to begin that process on Tuesday.
Using data from the census, the city will redraw its City Council districts so that each has generally the same population while still representing areas that have similar interests and priorities.
Tuesday’s meeting is an early part of the process and will serve as an informational meeting as well as an opportunity for the council to direct city staff on how to best begin the process of redrawing San Ramon.
City staff added the cities are prohibited from releasing drafts of potential boundary lines until at least three weeks after 2020 census data is published, which is expected to occur sometime between August and September.
* Council members are also set to review its policies that guide the use of flag poles on municipal property and will discuss what flags are deemed appropriate to fly on city poles.
City officials say that historically, San Ramon displays the United States flag, the State of California flag and the City of San Ramon flag, while other flags — such as the POW/MIA, Blue Star Moms and Black Lives Matter — have been flown on city poles although there is currently no policies that govern the display of flags on municipal poles.
“The City Council gave direction to develop a policy that prohibits the display of flags that are associated with religious, for-profit, or political organizations,” deputy city manager Steven Spedowfski said in a report to the council.
“The City Council also discussed the location where commemorative flags should be flown and restricting flags from other nations. The potential locations discussed for flying a commemorative flag were, the flagpole in front of City Hall, a flagpole elsewhere in the community or displaying digitally on the City Hall marquee,” he added.
City officials added in a proposal for new flag policies, that flagpoles are not intended to serve as a forum for free expression by the public, rather that of the city and that the council will only consider a request to display a commemorative flag if the request is made by a member of the San Ramon City Council.
* As the rate of coronavirus infections continue to decrease throughout California and the East Bay, City Manager Joe Gorton will also be on hand to discuss the council potentially returning to in-person City Council meetings.
* In recognition of the workers who keep the city running, the council intends to issue a proclamation recognizing the week of May 16-22 as National Public Works Week.
* City officials also plan to meet for a special council meeting prior to the start of their regular one, in order to review San Ramon’s preliminary operating budget for the fiscal year 2021-22, as well as the city’s capital improvement program plan.
That meeting is set to begin at 4 p.m. and can be viewed on the city’s YouTube channel or via zoom using webinar ID 913 1013 6515.
Appeal over redevelopment project at old Chevron HQ coming to San Ramon councilApril 6, 2026 10:32 pm
