Madison Police Department officials are contending that Dane County is evading responsibilities after a funding reduction to the county’s detoxification center led to a new policy heavily limiting the amount of inebriated individuals MPD can bring in for help.
The decision to cut funding to the detox center was made a little over a year ago in fall of 2010.
The Dane County Board put together a study committee to determine how the county would meet its obligation to provide emergency treatment services to help those incapacitated by alcohol, MPD Captain Joe Balles said. He said although the study committee never produced a final report, the director for Dane County Human Services Lynn Green moved forward with a model that would provide detox services only to those who voluntarily stayed seven to 10 days at the center.
According to a memorandum from Green, a 2011 investigation by the department found evidence that the funds allocated for alcohol and other drug abuse, or AODA, treatment, was not the best use of money.
The memo said a very low percentage of admitted people went on to treatment, and more than half had been there before. Additionally, only 7 percent of the people were reported to have gone to detox voluntarily.
However, Balles said the new plan meant the county would not provide emergency treatment to those law enforcement found incapacitated by alcohol. The detox center would also be closed to officers Monday through Thursday.
Balles said that in 2010, MPD took 280 to 290 people per month into custody and to detox, which averages to six times per day.
“We’re not talking about people who are intoxicated,” Balles said. “There is intoxicated, but incapacitated is a whole different thing. Incapacitated people are a danger to themselves and others.”
Balles said the county wants people to believe the center is just a drunk tank and MPD brings any intoxicated person down there, but the reality is much different. He said only a small group of incapacitated people are brought in.
Green said in the memo that she released another memo to the Dane County Police Chief’s Association Jan. 19 saying Dane County would make its unused beds available for incapacitated individuals in protective custody.
Tellurian UCAN, the company contracted to perform detox services for Dane County for nearly 25 years, will now do much less for the county, Tellurian spokesperson Kevin Florek said.
“We’ve had to make layoffs and tough decisions,” Florek said. “We can’t serve as many people because we wouldn’t be able to do it in a safe, effective manner.”
Florek said the county made the decision to cut funding by $200,000, which is a very significant cut. Tellurian is now contracted to perform fewer services than they have in the past.
He said that Tellurian’s decreased responsibilities mean more responsibility is put on the shoulders of Dane County Police.
“It’s an inconvenience for the police because they have a legal obligation to do something if they run into someone who needs assistance,” Florek said.
Additionally, Florek said there may be an increased burden on hospitals, as more dangerously intoxicated people will be taken to emergency rooms and need to be looked after, instead of going to the detox center.
“[The county] has an obligation to provide emergency treatment seven days a week, and they disagree with that,” Balles said.
The memo said the department has explored other possibilities to make the most of detox services while also saving money, but if a mutually acceptable solution is not found, the current operation will not be sustainable.
