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After reviewing a case in which police officers pepper sprayed a mentally disturbed man, the Police Review Commission has recommended the department call mental health specialists when dealing with similar situations in the future.  

The City Council will consider the recommendation at tonight’s regular meeting. The case came before the PRC after a man with a history of mental illness was arrested by police in the north Berkeley area. To restrain the man, police used both pepper spray and physical force.  

After reviewing the case, the PRC determined the situation could of been handled in a more humane and sensitive fashion if the Berkeley Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team had been present. The PRC unanimously approved the recommendation in May with commissioners David Ritchie and Jackie DeBose absent. 

“This is something I would guess the police do as a matter of routine anyway,” said Councilmember Polly Armstrong, a former member of the PRC. “When I was on the commission, the police were eager to call the mental crisis unit.” 

The PRC said in its three-page recommendation that the Mobile Crisis Team does in fact respond to many such requests from police but suggests they “be called to assist in all cases involving mentally disturbed persons.” 

The Mobile Crisis Team is on call from 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington said the recommendation is designed to make sure police use extreme caution with disturbed suspects. 

“What they’re proposing is very small steps to ensure the police department is sensitive to the needs of people who are mentally ill,” he said. “And certainly having social workers do social work is more effective than having police do it.” 

Due to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, police department spokespeople did not return calls to the Daily Planet yesterday. 

The PRC also recommended the police department re-train officers in pepper spray use and the fire department and the Alameda County Emergency Medical Services develop protocol for assisting people who have been pepper sprayed. 

The City Council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the City Council Chambers at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The meeting will also be broadcast on KPFB Radio 89.3 and Cable B-TV channel 25.