LPD’s Mental Health Response Coordinator Works to Improve Access for Behavior Health

Officer Doug Headlee is the Lincoln Police Department's mental health response coordinator. He talked to reporters on Wednesday about September being National Suicide Awareness and Prevention month. (Jeff Motz/KFOR News)

LINCOLN–(KFOR Sept. 7)–It’s National Suicide Prevention and Awareness month and Lincoln Police handle a lot of service calls about people that may be contemplating suicide.

LPD’s mental health response coordinator Officer Doug Headlee says they are trying to identify people in the community that needing better access to behavior health resources.

“We get a lot of calls for people that are experiencing any type of crisis in their life,” Officer Headlee said. “The police may not always be the best to respond, so we are trying to connect them to the most appropriate resource dependent on what their situation is.”

Officer Headlee said some of the warning signs with someone thinking about suicide include people talking about it, having a written plan to do it or post something online and departing with belongings.

He says if you hear someone doing this, call LPD at the non-emergency number of 402-441-6000 or the National Suicide Prevention hotline by dialing 988.

There is a text option by texting 988.