Ernie & Joe

Had opportunity to preview film. Exceptionally done. Kudos to director, producers, & staff in the filming of this powerful story about policing from a mental health perspective versus a law enforcement perspective. I also thought it was a more compelling story in that not only do you "ride along" with Ernie & Joe as the respond to mental health calls but also share their own personal story of upbringing, childhood, adulthood, joining the force, then in many respects becoming the first MH officers in the SA area. A widely successful diversion program, recognized as a national model. Highly recommend!

Well done documentary on the rise of mental illness within our society. Important subject matter that I can already tell not enough people are going to see. Pat on the back to Ernie and Joe and the SAPD on being at the forefront of this issue. We get an inside glimpse at the human side of the police and other public servants who have to deal with mental and emotional crisis on a day-to-day basis.

Most telling line in the film was the officer instructing police cadets that "90% of the calls you deal with will involve someone in emotional distress that just needs someone to show up and show that they give a dang".

"Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops" (2019 release; 97 min.) is a documentary about two San Antonio cops, Ernie and Joe, who are part of the SAPD's Mental Health Unit. As the movie opens, we are reminded that 1 in 5 people in this country deal with mental illness issues (think about that for a second: TWENTY percent of this country). We then get to know Ernie and Joe. They are on duty and get a call that there is trouble in a court room, where a disturbed man is making trouble. Ernie and Joe approach him non-violently and eventually talk him into letting them take him to a hospital for treatment. We then learn that they also provide Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) to first responders. At this point we are 10 min. into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from longtime documentarian Jenifer McShane ("Mothers of Bedford"). Here she examines the radically different ways in which the San Antonio Police Department, in conjunction with local mental health institutions, decided a decade or so ago that it would be in everyone's best interest (the community, the cops, the mentally ill) to approach these issues from a health treatment perspective, rather than from a criminal perspective. The film makers follow Ernie, the more senior guy, and Joe, the junior guy with a checkered past (including multiple divorces and dealing with PTSD following his tour in Iraq as a Marine), as they integrate themselves deeply into the San Antonio community at large. The benefits of this approach are obvious to anyone, and why this approach isn't more widespread is a mystery to me (although we get the sense that this approach is gaining wider foothold--better late than never I suppose). There is an incredible (and long) sequence in the film where Ernie and Joe encounter a deeply troubled young woman is threatening to jump off a bridge to a certain death. When asked if she is hearing voices, she says "yes, and they are telling me to JUMP, JUMP, JUMP, JUMP". You'll have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

"Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops" premiered a few months ago on HBO and somehow I had missed it at that time. But is is now available on HBO On Demand (where I saw it) and other streaming services. If you have any interest in how our society could benefit from a radically different approach on those dealing with mental illnesses of various kinds, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.

This film will give you hope. It should be mandatory viewing for all decision makers regarding police training and mental healthcare.

Ernie and Joe is an inspiring film about a more humane approach to policing. All too often police treat mental heath emergencies as criminal behavior. E & J are two cops who see mental health crises for what they are. Rather than running in with guns and cuffs, they come to talk. We see them in action, and we see them train other officers to adopt this more dignified, and effective approach.