Lincoln PD Officer chosen to speak on mental health at George Mason University symposium

Lincoln Police go out on about 275 mental health calls per month. How they handle those calls and provide help is sparking interest. 

Officer Luke Bonkiewicz was one of about 50 people to be chosen to speak at George Mason University at their Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy Symposium, an annual event based on evidence data. 

Bonkiewicz was invited to speak on the LPD’s partnership with the Mental Health Association and programs they have implemented to respond to calls specifically about mental health. 

“I presented on some data we’ve gathered about this partnership, specifically the R.E.A.L. Program…the real program works like this: after the call for service, the officer sends and email to the mental health association who then sends a peer specialist out to contact the person in crisis within 24-48 hours,” Bonkiewicz says. 

From there the specialist dies exactly what R.E.A.L. stands for; respond, empower, advocate, and listen to the person and help connect them to resources. 

Bonkiewicz says they analyze the data to see if the program is working, which it is. 

“It takes about 12–24 months for the program to work, meaning where we see the effect of decreased calls for service and rates of being taken into protective custody, we see those things happen in about 24–36 months after the fact”

The program is vital to the community, and LPD has found concrete ways to implement mental health resources into their daily practices, which is something that other law enforcement agencies tend to struggle to find for their community. 

Bonkiewicz iterates that “the police dept and mental health association have made good use of those resources and really tried to tailor specific solutions to individuals to make sure they get the help they needed both during that call, and equally important after that call for service.”

Officer Bonkiewicz says this works because of the great relationship between the police and mental health agencies in Lincoln. 

Along with the R.E.A.L. Program, LPD says they are working on about 10 other projects to help them improve their policies and day to day operations.