Omaha police discuss increase in mental health calls, shots fired on officers

OMAHA, Neb. —

Omaha police are seeing an increase in mental health-related calls, even as violent crime has decreased, prompting expanded efforts by the crisis negotiation team to address and de-escalate these situations.

Tuesday’s deadly standoff marked the seventh time that police have shot someone in the past eight months and the second time this week. The Omaha Police Department said its crisis negotiation team is deployed to prevent and respond to incidents like this.

Lt. Joe Nickerson, commander of the crisis negotiations team, said the department is taking proactive steps to address the growing call volume.

“We’re on the forefront of it, and that’s why you see a lot of departments like OPD and others in the metro area taking these proactive steps. Mental health is probably not the best wheelhouse for the police department to handle, but because we deal with it so much, we want to try to deal with it, right,” Nickerson said.

He noted that mental health calls are becoming increasingly common.

“Call load is pretty heavy in the area of mental health; we have a high volume of mental health calls. So, it’s kind of a nationwide thing right now,” Nickerson said.

Tuesday’s standoff began with attempts to de-escalate the situation but ended with the suspect firing at officers. Nickerson emphasized the importance of having mental health professionals accompany officers on calls.

“We can’t arrest every problem out of the community. We have to provide support. So having co-responder mental health professionals with us on calls humanizes the officers as well,” Nickerson said.

While crisis negotiations can often prevent situations from escalating, Nickerson acknowledged that they don’t always succeed.

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work that way. Some people just have a made-up mind. They don’t want to go peacefully. Some people are not in a good enough state to make good cognitive decisions, to make a safe outcome. So, it doesn’t always work. But we always want to have the tool available. And when it does work, it’s safest for everyone,” Nickerson said.

He added that the department’s top priority is protecting the lives of community members.

“Shows their sacrifice. They’re willing to put themselves in that line of fire to protect the community. And the fact that we have had a good run here with no loss to community members in those tactical situations is very encouraging,” Nickerson said.

The department has also increased support for officers dealing with trauma from these incidents while focusing on prevention.

“We can’t solve crimes without the community, and the community needs us to help protect them. It’s a two-way street in Omaha,” Nickerson said.

In recent days, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and Papillion and La Vista police departments have spoken with KETV about recent incidents involving officers being fired at. They discussed similar trends of an increase in mental health calls.

Each department says its officers are proud of how their officers have handled crises.

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