Members of the Santa Barbara Police Department’s co-response team were given the Thomas Guerry Award for Superior Service for how calmly and professionally they responded in two separate cases to individuals experiencing acute confusion, distress, and agitation; both individuals, it turned out, were also experiencing serious and potentially life-threatening medical issues about which they were not aware. Because of these interventions, the two individuals were taken to the hospital, where they were both diagnosed and received appropriate treatment.
Cited by name for their work were officers Thomas Diefenthaler and Brittany Rohrs, and former officer Rocio Alvarez. Also nominated were Behavioral Wellness clinical field workers Rosa Cepeda and Michelle Howell. Co-response is a form of specialized response to individuals experiencing acute psychological distress in which law enforcement personnel, specially trained in the art of de-escalation, team up with mental health case workers. The approach was pioneered to reduce the potential for violent interactions between law enforcement officers and mentally ill people, keep people out of jail who might do better getting treatment, and to free up law enforcement from what might otherwise prove to be exceptionally time-consuming engagements. According to Chief Kelly Gordon, her department’s co-response team conducted 577 proactive mental health checkups of “the community’s most vulnerable populations” in 2025. They fielded 85 calls for service involving individuals in severe distress and handled an additional 262 calls for service unrelated to mental health.
Coincidentally, the city team were given the Guerry Award — named after a Santa Barbara officer shot and killed in the line of duty — just as it appears that Dr. Cherylynn Lee, head of the county’s Behavioral Science Unit, will be laid off June 30 in response to severe budget pressures. Not only does Lee coordinate the sheriff’s three co-response teams, but she also coordinates Conflict Intervention Training for officers in all county law enforcement agencies, again to keep potentially charged interactions from getting out of control. Mental health advocates have expressed deep concern about Lee’s departure. Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Raquel Zick stated that all the existing co-response functions will continue, but that oversight over Lee’s operational duties will be split up among other supervising officers within the department. (SBPD, it should be noted, does not work through or with the Sheriff’s Behavioral Science Unit; they work directly with Behavioral Wellness.)
