Apartnership to bring mental health experts along on Longview Police Department calls will take effect next month.
During the Tuesday night meeting, Longview City Council voted to authorize a 17-month contract between the police department and Columbia Wellness. The agreement will allow two mental health professionals to move into offices at the police department on Aug. 16 and work full-time on the mental and behavioral health calls that come through the department.
Longview Police Chief Robert Huhta said the agreement with Columbia Wellness was the start of a larger process to bring mental health experts into local police departments. With the maximum funding that Huhta and other police chiefs are seeking, the program could expand to 10 mental health experts stationed throughout Cowlitz County.
“We get to build this how we want it to be jointly, and are working to implement a program that meets the needs of Longview,” Huhta said.
The Longview City Council approved the funding for the first two positions in May, budgeting $365,000 from the general fund for 2021-2022.
