County leaders say deputies are carrying the burden as officials push for a detox center, jail treatment programs and crisis intervention reforms
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By Annie Dance | Lake Lure News | Cops & Congress | News & Commentary
MARION, N.C. — In McDowell County, some of the most difficult mental health cases are no longer landing first in hospitals or treatment centers.
They are landing in the back seats of patrol cars.
During the May 11 meeting of the McDowell County Board of Commissioners, county leaders and behavioral health officials laid out a stark picture of a system where deputies and police officers are increasingly acting as the front line for addiction, psychiatric emergencies, homelessness, and involuntary commitment cases.
The message from officials was blunt: McDowell County does not have enough local behavioral health infrastructure to meet the growing demand.
Representatives from Vaya Health told commissioners that a recent county assessment identified three urgent failures in the local system — inadequate mental health care inside the jail, the absence of a local detox and crisis stabilization center, and limited alternatives to incarceration for people struggling with addiction or mental illness.
“There’s not a crisis facility here in McDowell County,” officials acknowledged during the presentation.
That gap has real consequences for law enforcement.
When someone is placed under an involuntary commitment order, officers are often tasked with locating the individual, transporting them for evaluation and managing unpredictable situations involving people in severe psychological distress.
Officials said deputies are regularly responding to calls where it is unclear whether the person involved is suicidal, intoxicated, psychotic or dangerous.
“What we all want is for everybody to walk out of that encounter safe and alive,” a Vaya official told commissioners.
The county’s proposed solution is ambitious: develop a local detox and crisis stabilization center that could divert people away from emergency rooms and jail cells before situations spiral further.
But officials made clear the project would require major funding, state cooperation and buy-in from local government.
Behavioral health leaders said other counties have invested millions into similar facilities, often combining state mental health funding with local taxpayer dollars.
Commissioners appeared receptive.
Throughout the meeting, board members repeatedly praised local law enforcement officers, emphasizing the dangers they face during mental health calls, domestic disputes and emergency responses.
“The general public doesn’t really realize what kind of danger you guys are in a lot of times when you’re going to a call,” one commissioner said.
Officials also highlighted Crisis Intervention Team training, or CIT, which teaches officers de-escalation tactics and how to recognize behavioral health emergencies before encounters become violent.
The broader concern discussed during the meeting was not simply crime, but what happens when untreated addiction, mental illness and homelessness intersect with a rural county that lacks enough local treatment beds and crisis resources.
Speakers described formerly incarcerated individuals leaving prison with nowhere to live, untreated addictions and little family support — conditions they said often lead directly back into the criminal justice system.
Officials argued that diversion programs, transitional housing and crisis treatment are ultimately public safety investments as much as healthcare initiatives.
Data presented during the meeting appeared to support that argument.
Vaya officials said 93% of people accessing crisis services between October and December 2025 were diverted away from hospital emergency departments and into behavioral health care instead. More than 4,400 people avoided emergency room visits during that period.
By the close of the meeting, the conversation had evolved into something larger than a discussion about healthcare funding.
It became a debate over who responds when the mental health system fails — and whether rural counties like McDowell can afford to keep relying on deputies to fill the gap.
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ICYMI: View the Cops & Congress archive (2025 / 2024 / 2023)—Annie Dance is the publisher of Cops & Congress, a newsletter that analyzes what happens when crime, courts, disaster, democracy, and small-town policies collide. Views expressed here are covered by the First Amendment. Dance has a Bachelor of Arts from Manhattan University in Communication with a focus in Journalism and Government. She has been a journalist for over 20 years.