New Indianapolis police chief forms mental health bureau to address 'critical issues'

A new bureau within the Indianapolis police department will aim to better respond to mental health crises among the city’s residents, according to a plan revealed Wednesday.

The Operations Support Bureau will move several of the city's social service-related units under its purview. The goal is to better respond to mental health calls, police said in a news release, but also serve as a centralized hub to coordinate resources.

It’s the latest structural change for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department under its new chief, Chris Bailey.

"We needed to make sure that we sent a message, both internally and externally, how important (mental health) is and we do that by creating its own separate bureau and putting a command-level person in charge," Bailey said.

Bailey has previously said police have shouldered mental health-related calls for years, estimating only 20% of the police department’s calls are related to actual law enforcement issues, and the remaining 80% stem from issues not built for officers.

What will the Operations Support Bureau oversee?

The bureau will take on the police department’s Mobile Crisis Assistance Team — commonly called MCAT — that sends mental health clinicians to certain calls with an officer and the Homeless Outreach Unit.

Its staff also will collaborate with the city’s clinician-led community response team, the Office of Public Health and Safety and other mental health providers.

The clinician response team operates on a 24/7 schedule downtown and in east Indianapolis.

Indianapolis Park Rangers, Public Safety Officers and Public Assistance Officers also will be placed under the bureau.

Why was the bureau created?

Bailey said that during his time as interim chief, addressing the growing mental health concerns in the community became a priority.

Consolidating the Homeless Unit and MCAT helps streamline the city's response, he said.

“The goal is to efficiently respond to and prioritize mental health incidents by consolidating resources and fostering collaboration,” the department said in a news release.

Who will oversee the bureau?

A 21-year veteran of the Indianapolis police department was chosen for the position.

Maj. Tabatha McLemore was tapped to oversee the new offices. McLemore previously helped run the department’s Homeless Unit, the downtown district’s detectives and the Violent Crimes Task Force for downtown. In November 2021, she managed the Mobile Crisis Assistance Teams and worked with the Homeless Unit.

She is vice chair of the Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Advisory Board. Additionally, McLemore was asked to serve on a panel about Homelessness and Law Enforcement by the National Institute of Justice.

McLemore started her career in the east district, then moved to the Vice and Human Trafficking unit where she worked undercover for eight years.

Bailey said his intent behind creating the position was to ensure a command-level person could work with agencies outside the department, a task that previously fell to assistant chiefs.

He also hopes the Operations Support Bureau will provide the public with more information about the 988 mental health line and internally, seek out more training if other departments have success with mental health response models.

Past calls for change to Indianapolis' mental health response

In recent years, calls for change in how the city handles mental health have skyrocketed.

The critiques made headlines in 2022 after the death of Herman Whitfield III, a 39-year-old Black man who was undergoing an apparent mental health crisis in his home when Indianapolis officers tased, handcuffed and placed him face down on the ground.

Advocates in the weeks after Whitfield's death demanded a faster rollout of a team of clinicians that would respond to certain 911 calls, instead of police.

The demands resurfaced this past year after a string of shootings by Indianapolis police, some injuring or killing people with a history of mental health issues. A group of clergy members went as far as to call for former Police Chief Randal Taylor's resignation in light of the shootings. They referenced Whitfield's death as a contributing factor to their calls. Critics of Indianapolis police responses to mental health calls are reserving comment until they have a better understanding of the bureau.

When two of the police officers who responded to Whitfield's home that morning were indicted last year for their alleged role in the death, the local police union president called for the immediate end of police responses to mental health crises.

More: Indy police union leader says mental health bureau could expose department's other weakness

Rich Waples, an attorney representing the Whitfield family said the bureau is a welcome change, adding "the more coordination there is, the better." Still, he said the city's overall system for responding to mental health is not enough.

"The city's apparatus for responding to its citizens' mental health needs is still too little and, rather than being too late, is often nonexistent," he said, calling for the expansion of MCAT and clinician response teams to cover the city.

Other appointments announced round out IMPD's new leadership

Bailey also appointed Cmdr. Nikole Pilkington as commander of the Southwest District, Lt. Jeffrey Silcox to commander of the Training Academy and Cmdr. Michael Leepper as commander of the East District.

Contact reporter Sarah Nelson at sarah.nelson@indystar.com

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy police chief forms mental health bureau to curb 'critical issues'