Officers at state parks get tool to aid in crises
Conservation officers who work for Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources can now intervene to take individuals experiencing a mental health crisis into protective custody. Leaders with the department say such occurrences have become more frequent.
On Tuesday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed Senate Bill 59, which updates Michigan’s Mental Health Code to expand the definition of a peace officer. In a statement, Whitmer said that “offering conservation officers the same authority as other law enforcement will help them keep people facing mental health crises safe and protect our parks.”
Bill sponsor state Sen. John Cherry, DFlint, said the legislation gives DNR conservation officers the same tools as other law enforcement agencies to take action when someone is in crisis at a state park.
“While many residents enjoy these beautiful spaces, unfortunately sometimes there are individuals in crisis that often choose to harm themselves or end their life in these beautiful and oftentimes isolated places,” Cherry said during a House legislative committee hearing on his bill. “When a conservation officer intervenes in these circumstances, they do not have the same powers to take necessary actions to help those individuals.”
The change will make a difference in both rural and urban areas, DNR leaders said.
“Quite often, in some of our more rural areas in northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, our officers are the community law enforcement that are on shift many times late at night or backing up other agencies,” said Dave Shaw, chief of the law enforcement division for DNR, during a legislative hearing.
Sgt. Damon Owens, who supervises DNR’s law enforcement division for Belle Isle, said at the hearing that he often encounters individuals experiencing a mental crisis in the state park in Detroit, requiring officers to use their
“verbal Judo” to confront the situation or convince the individual to go to a hospital for a medical evaluation. Other times, another law enforcement agency is called to the scene, which can make matters worse.
“I can tell you that these events are weekly,” Shaw said. “They are increasing.”
Whitmer signs a number of other bills
Whitmer also signed bills to reduce traffic at rail crossings, extend eligibility for financial assistance to guardians of children whose removal proceedings originate in Tribal Courts in Michigan and lower the penalty for failing to comply with certain deer harvest reporting requirements. She also signed legislation aimed at protecting survivors of abuse, modifying the state’s Business Improvement Zones law and designating a portion of US-127 in Ingham County as the “Trooper Starr Memorial Highway” to honor Michigan State Trooper Caleb Starr who lost his life in a crash with a drunken driver.