DAY 1. FIRST RESPONDER SPEAKERS
Ernie Stevens
Ernest (Ernie) Stevens is a #1 Amazon bestselling author of Mental Health and De-escalation: A Guide for Law Enforcement Professionals and a contributing author of Police Mental Health Barricade. A 28-year police veteran, he spent 26 years with the San Antonio Police Department, where he co-founded the Mental Health Unit.
Ernie has been featured in the Emmy Award-winning HBO documentary Ernie and Joe: Crisis Cops, NBC’s A Different Kind of Force, and ABC’s Nightline. Recognized as an expert in Crisis Intervention Training, he has appeared in over 44 publications.
He holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice from Wayland Baptist University and currently serves as Deputy Director of Law Enforcement at the Council of State Governments Justice Center, supporting agencies nationwide in developing effective mental health crisis response models.
Joe Smarro
CEO of SolutionPoint+
Joe Smarro is a decorated U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. After his military service, he joined the San Antonio Police Department in 2005, where he was a founding member of the Mental Health Unit (MHU), helping it become a nationally recognized program. Joe served in the MHU for 11 years and delivered a TEDx talk in 2018 titled "I See You." He was featured in the Emmy-winning documentary Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops.
In 2017, Joe founded SolutionPoint+, a national consulting firm focused on mental wellness and safety in organizations. He left the SAPD in 2020 to focus on improving behavioral health and criminal justice systems nationwide, with the goal of eradicating suicide among first responders. Joe is also a best-selling author of Unarmed: De-escalation Techniques to Cultivate Courage, Compassion, and Connection. When not speaking, training, or writing, Joe enjoys golfing.
Supporting Care
•
Building Resilience
•
Supporting Care • Building Resilience •
Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops, Film Screening with Q &a
Crisis Cops is a documentary that follows two San Antonio Police Department officers, Ernie Stevens & Joe Smarro, who work in the Mental Health Unit. The film shows how the officers ‘ innovative approach to policing helps people in crisis and changes how police respond to mental health calls. The film takes audiences on a personal journey, weaving together these two officers; experiences during their daily encounters with people in crisis.
OBJECTIVES
Start a dialogue in your community, police department, hospital, etc. about improving the culture and approach to mental health response and 911 calls
Learn how police can successfully use nonviolent methods to divert people in crisis from jail and into treatment
Understand what a mental health unit could look like in your community
Reduce mental health stigma
Increase understanding of, and compassion for, people with mental health challenges
Educate those studying or interested in policing, criminal justice, and/or mental health
Spark dialogue about officer wellness and self-care
How to be honest about ones own fear and concerns
Crisis Cops
Crisis Cops
ERNIE & JOE: CRISIS COPS is an intimate portrait of two Texas police officers who are helping change the way police respond to mental health calls. The film takes audiences on a personal journey, weaving together these two officers' experiences during their daily encounters with people in crisis. These two officers are not your everyday cops. They are part of the San Antonio Police Department’s Mental Health Unit.
ERNIE & JOE: CRISIS COPS has received generous support from IDA Enterprise Fund, Fork Films, The David & Lura Lovell Foundation, The Texas Mental Health Collaborative, CT Office of the Arts, and LEF Foundation.
