Cass County task force finds behavioral health a primary public safety challenge
Erik Svenson is a passionate arts journalist with over five years of experience in cultural reporting. He graduated from Minnesota State University and has worked for various arts publications in the region, highlighting local artists and events.
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Cass County Public Safety Task Force approves final report and recommendations regarding behavioral health and public safety. 11/5/26. FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – Cass County’s Public Safety Task Force has recommended developing a behavioral health care response model and re-establishing crisis intervention team training. According to the task force, law enforcement frequently responds to behavioral health situations that would be better addressed through healthcare and community services. Another issue is mental health services are fragmented through multiple organizations. “We end up utilizing jails and law enforcement to really deal with behavioral health issues that they’re really not designed to do,” Cass County Commissioner Joel Vettel said. “Part of the task force really was to really help outline some of those key factors.” The task force plans to take its recommendations to the North Dakota Legislature.