Lincolnshire Police Chief Joseph Leonas presented on the village's partnership with the Lake County Sheriff's Department and the success of the multiagency Crisis Outreach and Support Team collaborative initiative in responding to mental health-related calls.
The team became operational in January 2022 and consists of members from the Gurnee Police Department, Lake Forest Police Department, Libertyville Police Department, Lincolnshire Police Department, Mundelein Police Department, Vernon Hills Police Department and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. A police officer from one of these local agencies and a sheriff’s deputy from the sheriff’s office partner with a social worker, clinician or peer specialist to respond to mental health-related calls.
Since the inception of the multiagency team, COaST has responded to dozens of mental health calls. This has allowed trained professionals to spend as much time as necessary with the person in crisis and allowed the responding deputies or police officers to return to emergency calls for service. COaST is supported in part by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.