West Hollywood Sheriff’s Mental Evaluation Team was in action Friday afternoon after a man was detained on Hampton Avenue, showing exactly how the program works when law enforcement encounters someone who might be experiencing a mental health crisis.
Deputies responded around midday to reports of a man in green boxers kicking a car on Poinsettia Drive. Minutes later, another call came in about a man matching that description lying on Hampton Avenue, barefoot and screaming, threatening to “rape and kill” people. Maybe holding a weapon.
Patrol deputies arrived first and detained him. That’s when Deputy Gonzales from West Hollywood’s MET got to work.
Their job wasn’t to make an arrest. It was to figure out what was actually happening—was this guy committing crimes or having a psychiatric emergency?
“The suspect would be arrested if it was determined he in fact was responsible for the possible felony crime of vandalism,” Gonzales told WEHOonline. “If not then they would likely be held over for a psych evaluation.”
That’s exactly what West Hollywood’s MET does. They bridge the gap between law enforcement response and mental health intervention.
How MET Works
A sheriff’s deputy and a licensed mental health clinician. That’s MET.
The deputy has close to 1,000 hours of mental health training covering crisis intervention, de-escalation, recognizing psychiatric conditions, and understanding how medications affect behavior. The clinician comes from the LA County Department of Mental Health and conducts the actual psychological assessment.
On scene, the deputy handles safety and determines whether a crime occurred. The clinician evaluates the person’s mental state. They make the call together—arrest, psychiatric hold, or connection to services. Sometimes it’s both. Someone can commit a crime while in crisis, and MET can arrange for mental health treatment even if charges get filed.
They can put someone on a 5150 psychiatric hold if needed. Or they can connect people to services. The whole point is keeping people out of jail when the real problem is mental health.
West Hollywood Got Its Own Team in 2018
Most cities share MET teams with their neighbors. LA County operates 35 teams that rotate between multiple jurisdictions across the county. West Hollywood pays for its own dedicated team that works 40 hours a week and only responds to calls here. West Hollywood launched the dedicated team in 2018, making it the first contract city in LA County to have its own full-time MET team. Deputy Sergio Venegas and mental health clinician Jackie Eyerly were the original team members who started the program.
The difference shows up in response times. West Hollywood’s MET averaged an 8-minute response time in 2024, according to a city report. County teams that rotate between multiple cities can take 26 to 38 minutes to arrive.
The program’s made a measurable difference since 2018. Use-of-force incidents have gone down. People who would’ve been booked into jail ended up in mental health treatment instead. The MET deputies train other patrol deputies on how to de-escalate situations before they turn violent.
The team handles between 46 and 70 mental health calls every month, according to the Sheriff’s crime reports. Each one of those calls is somebody who got help instead of getting arrested.
Need Help?
Call the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station at (310) 855-8850 and ask for the MET team if someone’s in a mental health crisis. LA County Department of Mental Health also runs a crisis line that’s available 24/7 at (800) 854-7771.
West Hollywood also contracts with Sycamores to operate a Care Team you can reach through 988. Healthcare in Action does street medicine. Step Up on Second has outreach staff. The MET team works with all of them.
