Disability Rights Advocates Sue Washington County for Sending Police to Mental Health Emergencies

“Sending tactically trained and armed law enforcement officers who are more likely to exacerbate, rather than resolve, the mental health crisis they were sent to address.”

Progress Lake in Beaverton. (Kushal Bose/Shutterstock)
By Lucas Manfield

Lawyers at Disability Rights Oregon and the American Civil Liberties Union are suing Washington County and its emergency dispatch agency for their policy of sending police officers rather than health care workers to mental health emergencies.

The 61-page legal complaint alleges that the county routes 911 calls for help involving mental health crises to law enforcement agencies, and cites experts and statistics that say this results in fatal outcomes.

“Police are neither trained nor appropriate responders for someone who has broken their leg and calls 911—and the same holds for someone having a mental health emergency,” says DRO’s CEO, Jake Cornett, in a statement that accompanied the filing of the lawsuit yesterday in Washington County Circuit Court.

In response, a county spokeswoman pointed to its various mental health crisis teams that do respond to behavioral health emergencies.

“Washington County has been working with the ACLU and Disability Rights Oregon for the last two months on ways to address their concerns regarding behavioral health calls to 911 and avoid litigation. We are disappointed that the ACLU and DRO decided to file a lawsuit which we learned of today through the media,” the county said in a statement distributed by spokeswoman Julie McCloud.

But, according to the complaint, those crisis teams aren’t dispatched from 911 and either require callers to dial a separate number—988—or that they be requested by first responders once they’re on the scene. And, the lawsuit alleges, the teams are underfunded and understaffed.

Disability Rights Oregon filed the lawsuit “on behalf of its clients and constituents” as well as one named co-plaintiff, Joshua Wesley, alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits government entities from discriminating against people with disabilities. “The ADA’s protections extend to all aspects of a public entity’s activities, including the provision of emergency response services,” the lawsuit says.

After Wesley, 28, called a suicide hotline in 2022, the county dispatched five sheriff’s deputies. Later, after Wesley was transported to the hospital, he attempted to grab one of their guns saying “let me kill myself.” The deputy stabbed Wesley, who was hospitalized for three weeks and later charged with a crime.

The lawsuit points to various other jurisdictions that have launched mental health first-responder programs, from Eugene to Denver to San Francisco. Studies have shown these programs successfully divert 911 calls away from law enforcement.

Portland’s program, Portland Street Response, is currently facing cuts amid a budget crunch at Portland Fire & Rescue, which oversees it.

The lawsuit demands a court injunction, forcing the count to “ensure that mental health professionals are the default first responders for typical mental health emergencies.”

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