I am very pleased and very proud to tell you all that the California State Sheriffs Association has given its formal endorsement to Prop. 63.
The members of this statewide organization are the deputies who provide law enforcement services in our counties, and they also run our county jails. The Los Angeles County Jail, the largest jail in the state, is the largest de facto mental institution in the country. Our other county jails in California are smaller versions. The reason for this is the severe shortage of mental health services in California.
Let me say that I have enormous respect for the sheriffs in this state. The job is not an easy one, and it requires an enormous amount of skill and training. Many of us have difficult jobs, but not many of us have, or would accept, jobs that require that we be willing to risk our lives. Our deputies are willing to put their lives on the line as part of their jobs. I am reminded of this fact every year when thousands of uniformed officers converge on the State Capital and, in formation, they honor their fallen comrades.
Yet these deputies spend, on average, 20 percent of their time responding to calls regarding involving people with severe mental illnesses--people who are not criminals. Our deputy sheriffs have enough on their plates without taking on this non-law enforcement job.
I also have enormous respect for people who have severe mental illnesses, and it is just not right that our system of treatment and services for people with severe mental illnesses has come to rely so heavily on law enforcement as a result of the shortage of services. Having a severe mental illness is not a crime. We fund emergency medical services in California, and we wouldn't think of sending a person suffering a heart attack to a jail.
Prop. 63 will expand the funding for mental health services so that people won't have to reach a crisis in order to get services. They'll have an alternative. Prop. 63 will fund services for people who want them. Prop. 63 will also expand funding for mobile response teams of social workers and mental health professionals to respond to calls involving people with severe mental illnesses, relieving members of law enforcement of this job that does not involve law enforcement.
I thank the sheriffs for their support of Prop. 63.
Comments