Johnson County law-enforcement officers are asking for further training when responding to situations involving individuals with mental-health issues.
Monday night, representatives from across the county met in North Liberty for a joint meeting between Johnson County’s City Councils, the Iowa City School Board, and other entities of Johnson County. Besides the Sheriff’s Office, representatives discussed proposed school-bus routes and affordable housing.
Steve Dolezal, the chief deputy of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, presented a video about law-enforcement reactions to situations involving individuals with mental-health issues and a police-training program in San Antonio.
Dolezal said the program had been effective for deputies in the past.
“It’s just one piece of the puzzle,” he said. “We don’t have the training here in Iowa, and we don’t have the resources, either. We sent a group of officers down there this past spring, and it was very effective. We want to send more this year.”
Dolezal also said the Iowa City police plan on developing and implementing their own training program by January 2017.
The majority of representatives in attendance agreed the training would benefit the Sheriff’s Office.
ICCSD
Later in the meeting, Chris Lynch, operations committee of the Iowa City School Board, said newly proposed bus routes for Alexander Elementary School and other area schools could make students’ mornings easier.
“We need to create a super model to allow these kids an easier route to school,” he said. “We need to be reinventing school busing to get around the barriers.”
The proposed change would extend the Iowa City busing radius two miles for kids from kindergarten to eighth grade and three miles for high-school students.
“By next meeting we should have a few solutions narrowed down and be ready to make our decision,” Lynch said.
Lynch will meet tonight with the rest of the School District to discuss the issue further and vote on a decision.
Affordable housing
Andy Johnson, an executive assistant for the Board of Supervisors, said affordable housing would be one of the supervisors’ next areas of focus.
“Working with this group is one of top priorities,” said Johnson. “What we’ve done so far is a great place to start.”
Coralville Mayor John Lundell said he supported the supervisors’ concerns about affordable housing.