Deputies detain suspect on Hampton Avenue Friday before MET team evaluation | WEHOonline
West Hollywood Sheriff’s Mental Evaluation Team was in action Friday afternoon after a man was detained on Hampton Avenue, showing how the program works when law enforcement encounters someone who might be experiencing a mental health crisis.
Deputies responded around midday to reports of a man in green boxers kicking a car on Poinsettia Drive. Minutes later, another call came in about a man matching that description lying on Hampton Avenue, barefoot and screaming threats they would “rape and kill.” Maybe holding a weapon.
Patrol deputies arrived first and detained him. That’s when Deputy Gonzales of the West Hollywood Sheriff’s MET team got to work.
Their job wasn’t to make an arrest. It was to figure out what was actually happening—was this guy committing crimes or having a psychiatric emergency?
“The suspect would be arrested if it was determined he in fact was responsible for the possible felony crime of vandalism,” Gonzales told WEHOonline. “If not then they would likely be held for a psych evaluation.”
That’s exactly what West Hollywood’s MET team does. They bridge the gap between law enforcement response and mental health intervention.
West Hollywood Sheriff’s MET team deputy at Friday’s scene | WEHOonline
How the MET Team Works
A sheriff’s deputy and a licensed mental health clinician. That’s the MET team.
West Hollywood pays for its own dedicated MET team that works 40 hours a week and only responds to calls here. When West Hollywood launched its dedicated MET team in 2018, Deputy Sergio Venegas and mental health clinician Jackie Eyerly were the original team members who started the program. The deputy on the team has close to 1,000 hours of mental health training. The clinician comes from the LA County Department of Mental Health. West Hollywood launched the dedicated team in 2018.
They can put someone on a 5150 psychiatric hold if needed. Or they can connect people to services. The whole point is keeping people out of jail when the real problem is mental health.
Friday’s call shows exactly how it works.
Someone called 911 around midday Friday reporting a man in green boxers kicking a car on Poinsettia Drive. Dispatch sent out the deputies. A few minutes later, another call comes in. This time it’s a man matching that description but now lying on Hampton Avenue, barefoot and half dressed screaming he’d hurt everyone in the building. Maybe holding a weapon in his hand.
Deputy Gonzales from the MET team arrives on Hampton Avenue Friday afternoon | WEHOonline
Deputies got there and detained him. That’s when Deputy Gonzales with the MET team got to work.
Gonzales had to figure out what was actually happening. Did this guy commit felony vandalism? Or was he having a mental health crisis?
“The suspect would be arrested if it was determined he in fact was responsible for the possible felony crime of vandalism,” Gonzales said. “If not then they would likely be held on a 72-hour hold for a psych evaluation.”
West Hollywood Got Its Own Team in 2018
Most cities share MET teams with their neighbors. LA County operates 35 teams that rotate between multiple jurisdictions across the county. West Hollywood decided to do something different when it launched its own dedicated team in 2018, making it the first contract city to have a full-time MET team that only works here.
The difference shows up in response times. West Hollywood’s MET team averaged an 8-minute response time in 2024, according to a city report. County teams that rotate between multiple cities can take 26 to 38 minutes to arrive.That might not sound significant until you’re watching someone in crisis deteriorate while you wait for help to arrive, or you’re the person in crisis yourself.
The program’s made a measurable difference since 2018. Use-of-force incidents have gone down. People who would’ve been booked into jail ended up in mental health treatment instead. The MET deputies train other patrol deputies on how to de-escalate situations before they turn violent.
The team handles between 46 and 70 mental health calls every month, according to the Sheriff’s crime reports. Each one of those calls is somebody who got help instead of getting arrested.
Need Help?
Call the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station at (310) 855-8850 and ask for the MET team if someone’s in a mental health crisis. LA County Department of Mental Health also runs a crisis line that’s available 24/7 at (800) 854-7771.
West Hollywood contracts with Sycamores to operate a Care Team you can reach through 988. Healthcare in Action does street medicine. Step Up on Second has outreach staff. The MET team works with all of them.
Friday’s situation on Hampton Avenue is the kind of call West Hollywood created this program to handle back in 2018. Nearly seven years later, the City keeps funding it because calls like this one show it works.