News Clips
DEPUTY TRAGEDIES SPUR REMINDER OF COLORADO MENTAL HEALTH HOTLINE
By Jakob Rodgers, The Gazette
An easily accessible resource is available for anyone struggling to deal with the drumbeat of shootings across the Front Range.
The state's hotline for anyone facing a mental health crisis - no matter the circumstances - can be reached at 844-493-8255 or by texting the word "TALK" to 38255.
Colorado Crisis Services established the phone line more than three years ago as part of a statewide push to bolster mental health services after the 2012 Aurora theater shootings.
On Monday, the leader of Mental Health Colorado reminded ...
MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATES ENCOURAGE OFFICERS TO SEEK HELP FOLLOWING LINE OF DUTY DEATHS
By Andy Koen, KOAA
COLORADO SPRINGS - The death of a coworker is traumatic. For Colorado law enforcement agencies, it's happened with tremendous frequency this year.
It's one reason why mental health advocates want to get the word out that it's okay to reach out for help.
"We're encouraging folks, including officers to seek counseling," said Andrew Romanoff, President and CEO of Mental Health Colorado. "It's one of the reasons Colorado has set up a 24/7 counseling and crisis call line."
He points out that State lawmakers updated the Workers Compensation Act ...
IN ADDRESSING EAGLE COUNTY’S MENTAL HEALTH CARE VOID, PROGRESS IS SLOW, BUT STEADY
By Matt Bloom - KUNC MORNING EDITION, January 30, 2018
At a public health meeting in Eagle County, where frustrated mothers sat next to uniformed sheriff’s deputies and tired doctors, Chris Lindley, the county’s public health director, tried to wrap his head around how things could have gotten so bad.
“I can promise you nobody in this room can tell the rest of us all the mental health services, systems, how someone gets into them and how they all work together,” he said. “Can anybody describe ...
OPIOID CRISIS: STATE LAWMAKERS INTRODUCE SEVERAL BILLS
DENVER - State lawmakers introduce a series of bills to combat the opioid crisis in Colorado. 7News takes a closer look at the proposals.
MENTAL HEALTH EXPERTS EXPLAIN ‘M1 HOLD’
BY KRISTIN HAUBRICH
DENVER -- Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said he plans to tackle the mental health issues in the county and the state after the deadly shooting on New Year’s Eve in Highlands Ranch.
Newly released body camera video from the ambush shows deputies Zackari Parrish and Taylor Davis were going to place an M1 hold on Matthew Riehl because he was going through a manic episode.
Under Colorado law, if someone is mentally ill and an imminent danger to themselves or others, officers have the right to take them into custody and place them in a ...
PORTIONS OF BODY CAM FOOTAGE FROM DOUGCO AMBUSH SHOOTING RELEASED
BY: Ryan Haarer and Krystyna Biassou
KUSA - Just over a week after an ambush shooting left both the shooter and a young deputy dead, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office released portions of body camera footage of the firefight and what led up to it.
In an 8-minute long produced video posted to the agency's Facebook page, Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock addresses viewers and says he is attempting to answer lingering questions about that morning.
"There’s a lot of information out there and I would like you to hear from me about what happened," Spu...
THERE WERE NUMEROUS MENTAL HEALTH WARNINGS LEADING UP TO THE DOUGLAS COUNTY DEPUTY SHOOTING. WHY WASN’T THE GUNMAN HOSPITALIZED?
By John Ingold | jingold@denverpost.com and Noelle Phillips | nphillips@denverpost.com | The Denver Post
DOUGLAS COUNTY - For the man who killed a Douglas County sheriff’s deputy and wounded six other people, the warning signs were abundant.
At various points over the past three years, Matthew Riehl’s parents, friends who served with him in the Wyoming National Guard, professors at his former law school and law enforcement officers in two states all expressed concern about his mental health, according to official documents and interviews. His mother told ...
MENTAL HEALTH COLORADO CEO: WE NEED MORE EMPHASIS ON EARLY INTERVENTION
BY: Lance Hernandez
DENVER – The Colorado Department of Human Services is ramping up its support of co-responder programs that place mental health professionals alongside police, when officers are handling calls related to people in a mental health crisis.
Those programs are intended to keep jails and prisons from filling up with minor offenders dealing with mental health issues.
“That’s a trend we want to accelerate and continue,” said former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, now President and CEO of Mental Health Colorado. “We know ...
Psychologist explains why the DougCo shooter wasn’t involuntarily committed before attack
Anastasiya Bolton, KUSA
KUSA - The mental health struggles faced by the man police say ambushed multiple Douglas County sheriff’s deputies -- killing Deputy Zackari Parrish -- expose cracks in the mental health system.
Documents released by law enforcement agencies from Lone Tree to Wyoming show Matthew Riehl suffered from apparent mental illness and recently resisted his friends' pleas to seek more treatment.
9NEWS shared those documents with forensic psychologist Dr. Max Wachtel, who helps 9NEWS understand issues of mental health. He said police documented a ...
Dealing with the holiday blues
It's the time of year where all the holly jolly can be a little overwhelming.
This article originally appeared on 9News.
