Nearly 25 years ago, one of the most common issues Clinton Police Chief Ben Lowers encountered was domestic situations involving drugs or alcohol but that has changed and it is now an issue that does not have a singular solution.

Chief Lowers explains recently they are starting to see a majority of their response calls to a mental crisis situation and points out many domestic violence situations often have a mental health connection.

Chief Lowers believes Clinton is blessed to have an organization like Heritage Behavioral Health Services to turn to for assistance with circumstances that arise in the community. He explains the role of law enforcement and those counselors often intersect.

Chief Lowers believes instead of proposing cutting funding from police departments to go towards other social services agencies, we should instead find ways to simply increase funding for those social service agencies to work in conjunction with police departments to respond to these sometimes volatile situations.

Chief Lowers has often been outspoken about the issues social media creates in many parts of society today and he believes it has had its impacts on the mental health of people in our communities. He believes the emotional reactions of individuals on social media is creating a very unstable society.

The Chief would like to see reforms to the long term attention individuals dealing with mental health receive. He explains they often deal with the same individuals and he would like to see more awareness and effort towards getting support for them.