The Houston Police Department’s Mental Health Division (MHD) was formed to provide a more professional and humane response to people in serious mental health crisis. To accomplish this goal, the Mental Health Division works closely in collaboration with the mental health community at large, most notably, though, with The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD.
Currently, the Mental Health Division is assigned to Patrol Operations, and consists of 43 full-time personnel including:
Additionally, there are almost equally as many collaborative civilian team members from The Harris Center working alongside HPD personnel within the MHD.
The Boarding Homes Enforcement Unit’s main goal is to ensure that residents with mental and physical disabilities are living in a healthy and safe environment by providing educational outreach, regular inspections, and enforcing city ordinances.
The Chronic Consumer Stabilization Initiative is a collaborative effort designed to identify, engage, and provide services to individuals who have repeated contact with police because of a serious mental illness.
Crisis Call Diversion diverts non-emergency mental health related calls received through dispatch away from emergency response to appropriate mental health services.
The Crisis Intervention Response Team consists of an HPD Officer and a Master’s level clinician from the Harris Center. Teams are deployed citywide to address the most serious mental health related calls.
The Crisis Intervention Training Unit trains more than 5,600 law enforcement personnel annually. As HPD services as one of 14 Council of State Governments Learning Sites, the Training Unit also hosts multiple site visits annually for outside agencies who want to learn about the division’s co-responder programs.
The Homeless Outreach Team seeks to improve the quality of life for Houston’s homeless by getting people connected with resources and helping to provide a sense of worth and identity.
This unit analyzes police reports pertaining to mental illness and maintains a database used to monitor and assess potential risks to consumers and/or the public.
The Senior Justice Assessment Center is a collaboration of community partners who identify, evaluate and intervene in crimes committed against senior adults in Harris County.
“I would like to welcome you to the Houston Police Department’s Mental Health Division (MHD) website. You will find helpful information and resources on our site. Please feel free to call or email us if you have questions.
Modern policing requires the ability to respond to individuals experiencing serious mental health crises. The Mental Health Division is a collaboration between the Houston Police Department (HPD), mental health professionals in Houston/Harris County, and advocacy groups, such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Through these collaborations, HPD works with the community to develop multifaceted strategies for responding to those experiencing mental health crises. And HPD strives to respond as professionally, safely, and humanely as possible. As a leader and one of the national co responder models, we strive to work with our community partners, ever improving our response to persons with mental illness, substance abuse, and those experiencing homelessness. We continually work at developing new strategies and techniques that will keep the Houston Police Department the premiere law enforcement agency regarding specialized police responses to the mentally ill. The Mental Health Division has been assessed and approved by the National Quality Assurance, U.S.A., against the provisions of ISO 9001: 2015 and is a certified ISO agency.
Thank you for visiting our website and for your interest in the Houston Police Department’s Mental Health Division.”
Commander Jennifer Read has been a member of the Houston Police Department since 2005. During her 16 years of service with the department, she has gained experience that has proven to be valuable as she has advanced on her career path. Prior to coming to the Mental Health Division, she worked in the Identification Division doing forensics, Southwest Patrol, Vehicular Crimes Division, the Office of Planning and Data Governance, the Risk Management Division, and the Midwest Patrol Division. Commander Read is currently assigned to the Mental Health Division that proudly serves the City of Houston.
Commander Read’s formal education includes a Bachelor
of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies (Education) from the University of Houston, and a Master of Arts in Criminology from the University of Houston Clear Lake. Additionally, she holds a Master Peace Officer Certification with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) and is a TCOLE Certified Instructor.
Commander Read is a native Houstonian who understands the importance of community partnerships and is proud to serve in one of the most diverse cities in the Nation. Her goal is to continue to build relationships with the communities she serves and together address the challenging issues of mental health that impact those communities.
