An Orange County grand jury has issued recommendations for improving the Orlando Police Department's Community Response Team -- a team of clinicians who respond to people experiencing a crisis.
The findings, released by State Attorney Andrew Bain's office on Tuesday, follow the fatal police shooting last summer of 32-year-old Rachael Ellis.
Authorities say Ellis, who had been drinking, called 911 on July 14, 2023, threatening to harm herself.
Officers shot Ellis when she charged at them wielding knives, according to the grand jury.
It had previously cleared two officers involved in the shooting.
In a four-page presentment, the grand jury said the Community Response Team needs more mental health clinicians working within the department.
The jurors recommended that, in possibly violent mental health cases, clinicians and police officers should co-respond. They suggested the officers wear plain clothes and use unmarked cars to lessen the risk of violence.
In a news release issued Tuesday, the department said it has already expanded the Community Response Team. It has hired a program manager, added a clinician to "triage" calls and created two in-house positions for clinicians.
That's in addition to four positions created earlier this year, the department said.
"With these resources, OPD can enhance the CRT program by implementing a hybrid response model," according to the OPD statement. "This change would allow two clinicians as separate units to respond to higher risk cases as a co-responder with a sworn police officer, while continuing to respond to lower risk cases without a law enforcement presence."
The team, which was formed in 2021, has helped an estimated 2,500 people in crisis avoid encounters with law enforcement.
