PRESS RELEASE: CIRCLE Special Needs Registry

 (clic Mental disorders are very common in the United States. Statistics show that every year, 1 in 5 people reported having a mental disorder. A national survey of Americans found that 18.5 percent of adults (18 or older) have experienced or have been diagnosed with a mental illness. That’s equivalent to 43.8 million people. These numbers do not even include the people afflicted by Alzheimer’s and dementia, the broad spectrum of Autism, or even those who suffer from physical or mental handicaps.

In addition, statistics show that a person suffering from a mental illness has a 7 times greater rate of contact with Law Enforcement. This is in part due to the fact that we as Law Enforcement Officers are usually the first ones called when there is an issue or someone is acting out or has an episode due to their mental or physical problems.

These are just a few of the reasons for the creation of the Combined Indian River County Law Enforcement (C.I.R.C.L.E.) Special Needs Registry.

Chief David Currey of the Vero Beach Police Department, Sheriff Deryl Loar of the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, Chief Michelle Morris of the Sebastian Police Department, Chief Rich Rosell of the Indian River Shores Public Safety Department, and Chief Keith Touchberry of the Fellsmere Police Department collectively worked together to have all of the agencies in Indian River County become active participants in this program in order to afford the entire county an opportunity to register their loved ones with the C.I.R.C.L.E. Special Needs Registry and to have the ability to share this vital information across all lines of jurisdiction.

Please see the complete Press Release attached. (click 'Read More')
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More info can be found here: www.vbpd.org/CIRCLE