MEDIA RELEASE / COMMUNITY ALERT
For Immediate Release No. 20211202-047
Thursday December 2, 2021
Briana Fair joins the San Mateo Police Department as Mental Health Clinician
San Mateo, CA- The San Mateo Police Department is proud to announce the hiring of a full-time licensed mental health clinician. Beginning December 6, 2021, a mental health clinician will work alongside San Mateo Police Department officers as part of a pilot program (Community Wellness and Crisis Response Pilot Project) focused on de-escalating certain high risk emergency calls and providing compassionate and proper care for those individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. San Mateo County’s Behavioral Health and Recovery Services (BHRS) partnered with StarVista, a local nonprofit that delivers high impact services through counseling and crisis intervention to individuals, to train and to supervise the clinicians. This two-year program will also launch in Daly City, Redwood City, and South San Francisco.
The program will add a critical and new element to emergency response. 911 dispatchers, who are also trained to support individuals in crisis, will dispatch the mental health clinician along with SMPD officers to calls for service with individuals suspected of experiencing mental or behavioral health crises. After the police officers determine the scene to be safe, the clinician will assess the individuals and identify opportunities for immediate care and intervention.
Chief Ed Barberini believes this program will be great assistance to the police department and the community at large. “I am very excited about this collaborative effort to further enhance our ability to serve those who live, work, and visit the City of San Mateo. This program affords our officers in the field another significant resource when encountering those who may be suffering from a mental health related crisis. We are grateful for this opportunity and look forward to working side by side with a mental health professional in our communities on a daily basis,” said Chief Barberini.
The San Mateo Police Department selected Briana Fair as the department’s first mental health clinician. Fair is a licensed Associate Clinical Social Worker. She possesses an undergraduate degree in Child Development and Sociology from California State University Fullerton and a Masters’ degree in Social Work from California State University San Marcos. Fair served in numerous and various capacities while she honed her skills in the mental health field. Her extensive employment background includes working as a preschool teacher, a counselor at a children’s group home, a behavioral health assistant at the child and adolescent psychiatric unit at Rady Children’s Hospital, a medical social worker at Rady Children’s Hospital, a protective services worker for the County of San Diego, and a program coordinator at New Vistas Crisis Center. Fair will use her six years of experience in working in mental health to the benefit of the community of San Mateo.
Fair is enthusiastic and eager to begin her work at the San Mateo Police Department even if it meant relocating from southern California. “I did not find any positions in southern California like this one. I always wanted to specifically work with police on responding to psychiatric emergency situations. Ideally this program will grow and decrease the negative impacts on people experiencing crisis and members of marginalized communities.”
MEDIA CONTACT
Alison Gilmore
Public Information Officer | Office of the Chief
City of San Mateo Police Department
200 Franklin Pkwy, San Mateo, CA 94403
650-522-7626 | [email protected]
###
