Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops

2019

Documentary

IMDb Rating 8.0/10 10 376 376

police officer mental health law enforcement

Plot summary

Ernie & Joe follows two officers with the San Antonio Police Department mental health unit who are diverting people away from jail and into mental health treatment — one 911 call at a time.

Director

Jenifer McShane Photo
Jenifer McShane

Top cast

Joe Smarro Photo
Joe Smarro as Self
Ernie Stevens Photo
Ernie Stevens as Self
720p.WEB
898.04 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us   es  
23.976 fps
1 hr 37 min
Seeds ...

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by 7 / 10

Empathy and listening: the keys to a new approach in dealing with mental illnesses

"Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops" (2019 release; 97 min.) is a documentary about two San Antonio cops, Ernie and Joe, who are part of the SAPD's Mental Health Unit. As the movie opens, we are reminded that 1 in 5 people in this country deal with mental illness issues (think about that for a second: TWENTY percent of this country). We then get to know Ernie and Joe. They are on duty and get a call that there is trouble in a court room, where a disturbed man is making trouble. Ernie and Joe approach him non-violently and eventually talk him into letting them take him to a hospital for treatment. We then learn that they also provide Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) to first responders. At this point we are 10 min. into the movie.Couple of comments: this is the latest from longtime documentarian Jenifer McShane ("Mothers of Bedford"). Here she examines the radically different ways in which the San Antonio Police Department, in conjunction with local mental health institutions, decided a decade or so ago that it would be in everyone's best interest (the community, the cops, the mentally ill) to approach these issues from a health treatment perspective, rather than from a criminal perspective. The film makers follow Ernie, the more senior guy, and Joe, the junior guy with a checkered past (including multiple divorces and dealing with PTSD following his tour in Iraq as a Marine), as they integrate themselves deeply into the San Antonio community at large. The benefits of this approach are obvious to anyone, and why this approach isn't more widespread is a mystery to me (although we get the sense that this approach is gaining wider foothold--better late than never I suppose). There is an incredible (and long) sequence in the film where Ernie and Joe encounter a deeply troubled young woman is threatening to jump off a bridge to a certain death. When asked if she is hearing voices, she says "yes, and they are telling me to JUMP, JUMP, JUMP, JUMP". You'll have to see for yourself how it all plays out."Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops" premiered a few months ago on HBO and somehow I had missed it at that time. But is is now available on HBO On Demand (where I saw it) and other streaming services. If you have any interest in how our society could benefit from a radically different approach on those dealing with mental illnesses of various kinds, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.
Reviewed by 8 / 10

Not Enough People Will See This

Well done documentary on the rise of mental illness within our society. Important subject matter that I can already tell not enough people are going to see. Pat on the back to Ernie and Joe and the SAPD on being at the forefront of this issue. We get an inside glimpse at the human side of the police and other public servants who have to deal with mental and emotional crisis on a day-to-day basis.Most telling line in the film was the officer instructing police cadets that "90% of the calls you deal with will involve someone in emotional distress that just needs someone to show up and show that they give a dang".
Reviewed by 9 / 10

When did "empathy" become a four-letter word?

THIS! YES! The police occupation still has a very long way to go in its training and response to our nation's mental health crisis, but it's great to see the SAPD taking baby steps in the right direction. It's okay to care and to feel another's pain, and we owe it to the citizens of the communities we "serve and protect" to do better. And we must always remember that "serve" comes first. If we are unwilling or unable to do that, we need to find other lines of work that don't require empathy and compassion.
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