MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – A man is accused of killing his parents in Montpelier and questions remain about who should have responded and how. I learned there’s a gap in the system that can leave people in crisis and their families without help. That gap is between the mental health system and the criminal justice system.
Last week, we reported Vermont’s laws may have tied officials’ hands in the case surrounding Matthew Gomes, 29.
So how do police know which calls to respond to and how? Through a public records request, I got Montpelier police call logs showing Matthew Gomes first called 911 at 2:16 a.m. and reported a sexual assault. But he didn’t say where and refused services. He called an hour and a half later at 3:42 a.m., and hung up. Police paged Washington Mental Health five minutes later. They spoke with Gomes, who declined services and hung up on them. No one made in-person contact with Gomes until 11:27 a.m. after he called saying he was going crazy and hurt someone.
This case highlights lingering questions over the role of police and social workers in dealing with people in crisis. And I found out the response varies by agency.
Police responded to the Montpelier home last Friday and found Jerry Gomes, 77, and Mary Gomes, 60, dead.
“They were a kind, caring couple. It’s a shock,” neighbor Richard Mekkri said.
So, what went wrong despite multiple 911 calls?
When you call 911, your call is forwarded to one of several public safety answering points where it’s then forwarded to state police or local dispatch.
“We would gather the information– who, what, where, how, weapons, hazards and that information. We then take that information and pass it on to the officers,” said Elizabeth Tracy, a dispatcher with the Middlebury Police Department.
However, there is no mandatory training or certification for local dispatchers.
In the early morning hours, state and local police have supervisors on call to see whether it requires an immediate response.
But according to state police, mental health calls aren’t cut-and-dried.
“We err on the side of caution and we want to keep everyone safe, but there’s limited resources for us and the mental health departments,” Vt. State Police Capt. Matt Daley said.
In recent years, state lawmakers have tried to encourage more social workers to respond to mental health calls instead of a gun and a badge where incidents can turn deadly for people in crisis.
Vermont’s use of force policy, updated in 2021, sets rules for how police should respond to and deal with people having a mental health crisis. But it’s up to the agency to interpret those rules, leading to a patchwork response statewide.
“Is someone in immediate danger? If the answer is yes, someone will respond. If the answer is no, then we can try to help facilitate a mental health clinician on the phone, come up with a plan and maybe evaluate it later on in the day, that could be a possibility, as well,” Daley said.
But under state law, mental health clinicians can only step in if the person accepts help or a judge gives the green light.
State Rep. Ken Goslant expects with a new balance of power in Montpelier, public safety and mental health will be back up for discussion.
“When you have families that know they have a cry for help and their hands are tied and there’s nothing they can do about getting their loved ones in for help, we have a serious problem,” said Goslant, R-Northfield.
I reached out to Montpelier police for comment on their handling of this specific case. They declined. Washington Mental Health also didn’t comment on this case.