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Officials from throughout the criminal justice system met Friday to discuss ways to improve how they do business, especially dealing with the mentally ill.

More than 100 people showed up for the Santa Cruz County Criminal Justice Commission conference at the Scotts Valley Hilton.

"What Works" was the theme of the conference, though "What doesn’t" was also up for debate. Watsonville police Chief Terry Medina, Santa Cruz police Chief Steve Belcher, Sheriff Mark Tracy, Judge Michael Barton, Public Defender Larry Biggam and members of the county Board of Supervisors listened as officers offered their insight.

Among the speakers was Santa Cruz officer Eric Seiley, who directed several skits demonstrating situations officers might encounter. Two officers demonstrated non-violent ways to subdue a mentally ill suspect.

Tracy said the County Jail has separate units for inmates with mental illness. Paul Bellina of the county Office of Mental Health told the audience he has been working with those inmates to try to integrate them into voluntary treatment programs.

Prosecutor Christine McGuire said there are so many cases involving mentally ill defendants she thinks the county should consider having a separate court for mentally ill defendants.

Tracy said all officials have seen stories about mentally ill people being shot by officers, and he hopes the meeting can help prevent that kind of incident here.

Deputy Mike MacDonald demonstrated the "less-than-lethal" 40mm rifle. The rifle shoots a rubber bullet at 92 mph. MacDonald said getting with the non-lethal bullet packs the same punch as getting hit with a fastball by baseball pitcher Randy Johnson.

Prosecutors, county officials and board members got to fire the rifle at a dummy target in the parking lot behind the conference center.

Tracy said the rubber bullet rifles are good because they give officers options to fatal confrontations.

Belcher said the problem of mentally ill suspects is something his officers encounter often because of the large homeless population.

Contact Jason Schultz at jschultz@santa-cruz.com

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