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Office Of The CHIEF OF POLICE October 24, 2014 City of Vero Beach 1055 - 20th STREET VERO I3EACI-i, FLORIDA 32960-6441 Telephone (772) 978-4600 Fax (772) 978-4691 Board of County Commissioners Indian River County, Florida 1801 27th Street Vero Beach, FL 32960-3388 Dear Commissioners: The Vero Beach Police Department fully supports the Mental Health Collaborative Diversion Strategies Task Group in their recommendation to implement a mental health court in Indian River County. The Diversion Strategies Task Group consisting of Police Chiefs, State Attorneys, Public Defenders and Judges have joined together to explore ways to connect the mentally ill within the criminal justice system with mental health services in the community. More than half of the inmates being held in the Indian River County Jail are diagnosed with a mental illness. With available community resources dwindling for people with serious mental illness (SMI), the courts see more repeat offenders with untreated mental illness. Florida's jails and prisons are not designed, equipped, or funded to deal with SMI, so the use of the problem - solving court model is a logical response. Mental health courts generally share the following goals: to improve public safety by reducing criminal recidivism; to improve the quality of life of people with SMI's and increase their participation in effective treatment; and to reduce court- and corrections -related costs through administrative efficiencies and often by providing an alternative to incarceration. Monitoring and treating offenders with SMI in a mental health court is more effective, efficient, and less expensive than the remedies available through traditional justice system approaches. Like drug courts, mental health courts hold offenders accountable while linking them to the treatment services they need to address their mental illness. Sincerely, c •c4-4. � David E. Currey Chief of Police 12