The Atlanta Police Department believes in treating people we encounter with respect, compassion, and dignity. On February 2, 2021, Senior Police Officer (SPO) Miguel Lugo, who works in the Community Oriented Policing Section (COPS) as the Hispanic Liaison, was flagged down by a community member of Grant Park because there was a man in the neighborhood who was driving around yelling obscenities at kids in the area.

SPO Lugo was able to locate the man and he appeared highly agitated and mentioned “hearing voices”, the suspect said some other disconcerting things that made Lugo realize the man was having a mental health crisis. He was able to determine this based on the previous Crisis Intervention Training he had attended and by assessing the behavior and words of the man. Rather than responding in agitation towards the suspect, Lugo engaged in a conversation with the man later identified as Mr. Jacob Sheriff Ali and worked to calm him down. Lugo also called for backup and asked for medical assistance from the Grady Behavioral Unit.

The Grady Behavioral Unit and Zone 6 Officer Guillermo Sanchez and Officer Brittany West arrived to assist. Thanks to the patience and compassion of SPO Lugo, he was able to convince Mr. Ali to accept medical treatment and observed as the Grady ambulance took him to the hospital, to get the care he needed. After making sure that Mr. Ali was loaded into the ambulance, SPO Lugo went out of his way to visit the family of Mr. Ali and let them know that he had been transported to the hospital and was unharmed.

We’re thankful that this situation ended well for everyone involved. Unfortunately, we’ve seen countless incidents across the country involving those suffering from mental illness end poorly for variety of reasons. Sometimes a situation requires listening and understanding, which is why our recruits and officers are all required to learn de-escalation training including Crisis Intervention Training. We applaud SPO Lugo and everyone involved in this incident. We hope Mr. Ali gets the care he needs. #APDCares #APDGoodDeeds

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