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There’s a lot to do at The Piedmont at Buckhead senior living
community—clubs, events, socializing, and more.
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(including assisted living services if needed) at our
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Celebrate the season with a Fall Festival!
Join us for a variety of autumn-inspired food & beverages
and musical entertainment. To make a reservation,
call 404.381.1743.
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DUNWOODY
Social worker joins
police department
BY CATHY COBBS
Calling 911 isn’t what it used to be.
Police departments all over the nation
are seeing a steady increase in 911 calls re
lating to mental health, and rather than
dispatching officers un
trained in handling these
often volatile situations,
they are calling on men
tal health professionals to
help.
According to a 2021 re
port by the American Psy
chological Association, a
nationwide survey of more
than 2,400 senior law en
forcement officials by the
Mental Illness Policy say
that 63 percent of the re
spondents reported that
police personnel have seen
a “substantial” spike in the
amount of time that they
spend involving individuals with mental ill
ness. The officers reported that the mental
illness-related calls take “significantly lon
ger than larceny, domestic dispute, traffic
and other calls.”
The APA report said more cities are pair
ing mental health professionals with police
to better help people in crisis. Dunwoody’s
police force joined those ranks last month,
hiring social worker Megan Wynn, who
will act as a co-responder with law enforce
ment officials.
“We have seen a steady increase in calls
involving mental health, sometimes up to
80 to 90 percent of the calls received,” Sgt.
Michael Cheek, Public Information Offi
cer, said. “In most of these cases we have
only one path, which is usually a negative
law enforcement encounter that doesn’t ad
dress the underlying issue.”
Wynn has one important tool as a social
worker that law enforcement officials don’t
have — the ability to begin a legal process in
volving the filing of a so-called “1013 form”
that initiates a mandatory 48-hour hospital
evaluation for people undergoing a mental
health crisis.
“She has the ability to force the issue,
whereas we are in a tough spot because we
can’t do that,” Cheek said.
“She also has the resourc
es and the time to follow
up to ensure the person is
continuing to use available
resources.”
In the month since so
cial worker Wynn was
hired as a medical clinician
by the department, she has
already diffused a situation
involving what Cheek calls
a “frequent flyer.”
On Aug. 11, several
callers reported a disorient
ed naked white male ex
posing himself to passers-
by at the corner of Mount
Vernon and Ashford Dunwoody Roads.
“After we established that the scene was
secure, Megan was dispatched and talk
ed him into going to the hospital and then
she filed a 1013 so that he could get some
treatment,” Cheek said. “Within 15 min
utes, she had the situation under control.
If it was only the police handling the situ
ation, it was clear that he would have been
heading to jail.”
Cheek said the suspect was well-known
to officers in the community who had re
fused previous offers of help. Wynn said she
was grateful that she was able to offer her
expertise and clout to ensure the man got
the treatment he needs.
“This is a gentleman who needs the
health care system rather than the criminal
justice system,” Wynn said. “What I can do
frees up the officer’s time that would have
been spent at a hospital or taking him to
jail.”
Resident honors family with
new Hebrew Library
BY SAMMIE PURCELL
To honor his family, a Dunwoody man
has helped Brookhaven’s Chabad Israeli Cen
ter build a new library.
The center, which has been in Brookhav-
en since 2016 and serves as a community cen
ter for Hebrew speakers and people who have
moved to the area from Israel, held a grand
opening for the new Hebrew Library on Aug.
28. The library will feature books for readers
of all ages, all in the Hebrew language.
“We really wanted it to be a place where
the community can come read in their lan
guage,” said Executive Director Kari Sadeh.
Before this new renovation, Sadeh said
the center had a makeshift area that served as
a library. Now, the center hopes to hire a li
brarian and have an official library system, all
thanks to donor Michael Alon.
“He’s been a member of the community
since we’ve been here, very active,” Sadeh said.
“He really wanted to give back in a nice, per
manent way.”
A Dunwoody resident, Alon said he de
cided to support the library in honor of his
family, particularly his oldest brother, Rabbi
Yerachmiel Carmi, and his mother, Faige Tzi-
porah Chorowsky. He said it was their idea for
him to move from Israel to the United States.
“I always think of my brother and my
mother,” said Alon. “I’m almost 85, and I’m
very lucky.”
Read the full story at reporternewspapers.
com.
14SEPTEMBER 2022 | REPORTERNEWSPAPERS
reporternewspapers.com
