LEOs and the mentally ill

**Stephanie Gibson** · 12-19-2015, 03:42 PM

From Police One:

6 proactive steps to maintaining officers' mental health

You'd take a bullet for your fellow cops — how about helping them handle the psychological stresses of the job?

Dec 16, 2015

Well over a decade ago, in his seminal book Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement – A Guide for Officers and Their Families, Dr. Kevin Gilmartin observed, “Recruits are told the job takes its toll, but they are hardly ever told or shown how to minimize the negative effects of the journey through the police career. …Typically agencies give no strategies or preventive game plans to the recruit.”

Dr. Gilmartin went on to write: “Why aren’t law enforcement organizations at least attempting to prevent the destructive effects on employees brought on by years spent as officers? Although many agencies do have dedicated police psychologists and employee assistance programs available, these traditionally have been focused on resolving issues once they develop, not on preventing them.”

Pat Robinson, a retired police officer and former collegiate Dean of Public Safety, said, “We’re remiss in not helping officers find ways to manage the stress. Speaking for my own experience, it was not the ‘high-stress’ calls that were damaging. Those were the ones where you felt like you were doing something important — you know, saving the world, helping people, etc. The stressful part was being assailed as a racist, having to deal with adults acting like 2-year-olds and knowing every day someone will call you an obscene name.”

Robinson added, “We had training in the academy about how to de-escalate situations, how to talk to people, etc., but we never got anything about how to manage our own emotions and deal with the emotional toll the job takes on us.”

Why?

Police suicide and PTSD are at least beginning to be addressed, perhaps because the military’s attention to those issues has helped destigmatize them. But that’s not enough.

The Stigma
At a recent visit to a DPS academy, I learned that the commander had arranged for a local physical therapist to come in one day a week to be available to see recruits on an as-needed basis. I thought this community networking was great. The therapist was volunteering this time, and sessions were by appointment so less training time would be missed by the recruits. Plus, the arrangement communicated the academy’s proactive commitment to physical health and fitness.
I asked the commander about a similar arrangement for mental health therapy. After a noticeable silence, he replied, “I guess I never thought about it.”
I asked, “Or is it more like, ‘If they can’t handle the stress of the academy, how are they supposed to handle the stress of the job?’”
He answered, “Probably more that.”
I asked why mental health needs were treated differently than physical health needs. He questioned how confidentiality would work with such an arrangement if fitness for duty became a question. I assume it would work the same way that physical health issues do. But, of course, that’s not the case if the profession attaches a stigma to one and not the other. Clearly, this stigma is alive and well in the profession.

What Can and Should Be Done
The Indianapolis Metro Police Department (IMPD) has developed and implemented a national award-winning proactive officer wellness program. How they did it is in their model narrative.
New Jersey developed Cop2Cop, legislated into law to focus on suicide prevention and mental health support for law enforcement officers. It offers a free 24/7 peer and clinical support services hotline, clinical assessments, referrals, and critical incident stress management.
Providing officers with direct help in the form of department chaplains or psychologists and insurance plans that have good provisions for outpatient counseling with outside psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists is lipstick on a pig if the prevailing culture stigmatizes availing oneself of such help. Police leaders — beginning in the academies — need to clearly communicate a proactive approach to officers’ mental health. Here are six suggestions to consider:

Make plentiful and obvious brochures that outline stress indicators and symptoms, as well as self-help and professional means for addressing them.
Make such subjects the topics of roll call, in-service and academy training. Bring in outside instructors. Many might be willing to volunteer such time.
Make daily mental health an important part of the recruitment and hiring process.
Recognize and reward officers who proactively and retroactively address their mental health.
An academy where I teach recognizes records for the most pushups and sit-ups and fastest run and swim times. Challenge recruits to identify stressors at the academy and come up with healthy ways to address them such as mentoring, mind-body meditations, a helpful de-stressor “tip” list for subsequent recruits, etc. Recognize and reward such problem solving.
Network in your communities for volunteer services, like the physical therapist who volunteers in the academy one day a week.

Start Now
The Cop2Cop website says, “It takes courage to help others. It takes more courage to ask for help. It is tragic that we’ve made it harder for officers to get the help they need than to help others.”
We’re about to turn the calendar to a new year. Let’s take this opportunity to start anew and address this issue head-on.
About the author

As a state and federal prosecutor for over 10 years, Val’s trial work has been seen nationally on ABC'S PRIMETIME LIVE, Discovery Channel's Justice Files, in USA Today, The National Enquirer and REDBOOK.
Described by Calibre Press as "the indisputable master of entertrainment," Val is now an international law enforcement trainer and writer who appears in person and on TV, radio, video productions, webcasts, newspapers, books and magazines. She has been a regular contributor to a number of law enforcement publications and has been featured in the Calibre Press Online Street Survival Newsletter, Police Chief magazine, The Law Enforcement Trainer magazine, and The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Gazette.
When she's not working, Val can be found flying her airplane with her retriever, a shotgun, a fly rod, and high aspirations. Visit Val at www.valvanbrocklin.com and contact her at info@valvanbrocklin.com.

**Stephanie Gibson** · 01-04-2016, 05:43 AM

‘Mental illness not a crime’ By ALLISON SHIRK
STAFF WRITER

When Joyce Miller’s daughter was having a difficult time these past few months, she called a Charlotte County Sheriff’s crisis-intervention deputy to help stabilize Jourdan and take her to Riverside Behavioral Center in Punta Gorda, where she stayed for two weeks. Joyce said centers in Southwest Florida can’t afford to keep patients long enough to make sure they are stable.

“They do what they can, but it is not enough at all,” she said. “South Florida is hurting badly. ... We don’t have to reinvent the wheel here.”

Charlotte County has come a long way in the past few years with the way officers treat mental health patients, according to Joyce. Skip Conroy, CCSO spokesman, said the Sheriff’s Office has numerous employees who have had crisis intervention training through Charlotte Behavioral Health Care in Punta Gorda.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness defines a CIT program as a model that combines law enforcement, mental health providers, hospitals and people with mental illness and their families to improve responses to people in crisis. According to NAMI, CIT programs enhance communication, identify mental health resources for assisting people in crisis, and ensure officers get the right training and support.

Conroy said CCSO deputies have been receiving CIT training for at least six years, and it teaches deputies how to recognize when someone is mentally ill, how to de-escalate a situation and, lastly, how to refer the mentally ill person to a facility or hospital — or another facility that is not a jail. Sarasota County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Kaitlyn Johnson said the agency regularly puts deputies through a 40hour annual CIT course.
Joyce and her husband also have helped to teach classes to educate law enforcement officers about mental health.

“Mental illness is not a crime, but it is a crime that we (the community) are not taking it seriously enough,” Joyce said. “If we don’t pay for housing, we will pay for the mentally ill in the courts.”
According to the Florida Department of Corrections, it costs about $50 per day to house an inmate, which equates to roughly $18,000 annually.

Dr. Thom Glaza, founder of Tri-County Counseling & Life Skills Center — with locations in North Port, Port Charlotte and Osprey — recognizes the need to keep people with mental illnesses or substance abuse problems out of the jails. About 15 years ago, he began offering a “first-time offender” course that teaches people who have been arrested on misdemeanor charges, or lesser charges, how to have better life skills. Glaza said many of the people he helps have both a substance abuse and a mental health problem.
“I love teaching this because it’s something we all need our whole life and no one provides that — our educational system absolutely fails us,” Glaza said. “There are over 350 feelings in the dictionary, and no one has ever taught us that. We all know anger really well.”

Glaza’s life skills class is one of few in the state that teaches values, the different kinds of emotions, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. He teaches the course from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. every other Saturday, and he said the recidivism rate is less than 5 percent for offenders who attend. Sarasota County probation officers and 12th Judicial Circuit Court judges now have started to order defendants to Glaza’s class as part of their probation requirements. Glaza said that, on average, he has about 200 people attend his course each year.

Tri-County Counseling receives no federal or state funds because it is a grassroots organization. Glaza said the center relies heavily on Medicaid dollars and donations. “My issue with the state is that they’ll throw all kinds of money at addiction programs, and the recidivism rate is phenomenal. They won’t throw any at mental health issues,” Glaza said. “People with mental health issues have brain disorders. It’s not a choice.”

Dr. Thom Glaza, founder of Tri County Counseling & Life Skills Center in North Port and Port Charlotte, teaches a behavior-modification course for first-time offenders that teaches them how to manage their feelings, along with critical- thinking skills.
SUN PHOTO BY ALLISON SHIRK

**Stephanie Gibson** · 01-10-2016, 06:57 PM

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To print this article, open the file menu and choose Print. MENTAL HEALTH

Forum aims to find alternatives to jail for the mentally ill

By Billy Cox
billy.cox@heraldtribune.com

Published: Thursday, January 7, 2016 at 10:03 p.m.

CORRESPONDENT PHOTO / CARLA VARISCO
Carrie Seidman, Dr. Parlane Reid and Mary Rulz spoke Thursday at a Herald-Tribune Hot Topics forum on mental health at Sarasota Orchestra's Holley Hall.

The biggest mental health care facility in Sarasota County is not a hospital, clinic or ward — it's the county jail. On any given night a third or more of the 1,000 inmates the jail can hold are there due to mental-health issues, and without crisis intervention they almost certainly will return again and again, Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight said at a public forum Thursday.

Knight wants to alleviate the revolving-door arrests of the mentally ill — most who are homeless — with a jail-diversion program that could transfer most of those "low-end offenders" into rehab initiatives capable of steering them into productive stability and keeping them off the streets. The proposal, which also has the initial backing of the local State Attorney, Public Defender, Court Administrator and a judge, would provide legal advice and mental health care for those defendants who meet the criteria for the program.

But in a state that ranks 49th in per capita spending on mental health services, that proposal pivots on one big question:
Where will the estimated $900,000 a year the program will cost come from?

Nearly 300 people showed up Thursday evening at the Herald-Tribune Hot Topics forum at the Sarasota Orchestra's Holley Hall. The discussion was moderated by Herald-Tribune Editorial Page Editor Tom Tryon. Panelists offered myriad ideas on alleviating the burdens placed on law enforcement by the often-homeless mentally ill. But as Mary Ruiz, CEO of Centerstone behavioral health hospital, reminded listeners at the forum, lawmakers have virtually abandoned the cause in the nation's third most populous state.
Noting how $4 billion nationally was sliced from mental health care services during the recession without being reinstated, Florida "would have to have a $450 million increase to be below average" on a nationwide scale.

Consequently, Knight told listeners his deputies have become de facto crisis intervention agents who, last year, served 1,051 Baker Act papers for emergency mental-health evaluation and another 333 Marchman Act orders for the temporary detention and evaluation of people with substance abuse problems.
"It's not the best use of money to have cops drive them around" from one facility to another, added Wayne Applebee, Sarasota County's director of human services. And "what happens after the crisis is over?"
Noting the gaping holes in the continuity of care that could prevent discharged mentally ill inmates from pulling repeat offenses, Knight supports hiring a discharge planner who could network with social service agencies. Not only would the program offer better care for the mentally ill, it could save money in the long run.

Bayside Center for Behavioral Health psychologist Dr. Parlane Reid told listeners a similar proactive mental-health program in Miami-Dade was so effective, county officials in southeast Florida were able to actually close one of its jails. He described a similar jail-diversion shelter in Fort Myers that's significantly reducing the inmate population.
Knight was reluctant, however, to follow the lead of former Sarasota County Administrator Jim Ley, who in a recent guest column in the Herald-Tribune suggested a voter referendum to create a special property tax district to fund expanded mental health services. "We want to look at redundancies before we start throwing money at it," Knight said.

With no end in sight for significant budget increases, Ruiz stressed the need for continued public-private partnerships. One such new collaboration holds a lot of promise, noted reporter Carrie Seidman, who filed a special report for the Herald-Tribune last year centered on her son's ordeal with schizophrenia.
A Sarasota outgrowth of Vincent House, the Pinellas Park job-training/reintegration program for those diagnosed with serious mental illnesses, is under construction off South Tamiami Trail. The 12-year-old program, floated with public and private funding, has significantly reduced unemployment rates among its members.

But the over-arching imperative — bigger than any public or private program — is reassessing the nation's entire approach to mental illness, treating it no differently from physical medical issues. "The absence of stigma," said Reid, "is where it's at."

**Stephanie Gibson** · 02-13-2016, 08:12 PM

A momma's worst nightmare.. I thank God nearly everyday that Joe is non-violent and pray that never changes.

These cops were screwed no matter what they did.. I see that. If they step back, slow roll when he has a handful of knife and he ends up killing someone.. the cops are blamed for not getting the dangerous situation under control.

I am not looking for bashers but serious input into how we as society can do things better in these tragic moments. I have a very personal and limited perspective on this. I am sure your experience has seen all degrees of this story.

Chief Vespia is working with the MH Task Force to explore ways to limit the interaction between Leos and the Mentally Ill. I think great strides are being made there. However, we will always have these moments arise..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...dog/?tid=sm_fb

Unregistered · 02-16-2016, 08:20 AM

Look Stephanie,

You bother us so. OK, your kid had a concussion, so what? Who hasn't? To blame that for your outright lack of parenting and excessive coddling of your kid, and it's the big bad po-po on top of it? Get real.

Here's the deal: IT'S YOUR FAULT!! Why? Because you were more than willing to go along with this 'system' until it landed on your doorstep. Then it was KV's fault, CM as in (118) fault, this guy you call a 'LIEutenant', his fault et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Now that you are over a year into our 'careers', you want to tub-thump with the crybaby millennials who work here. Now to your answer; you want it fixed? OK, the acedemic portions of the acedemy remain at the technological institute level which is to say, you have a pulse = you pass. However, the physical/DT requirements stay with a standard black-belt level in a grappling art, such as Judo, which is about 4 years. Then you will have officers on the street fully aware of their abilities and better prepared to deescalate any given situation.

Now, are you prepared to run for office on that platform? Then head to City Hall and drop your paperwork for the next election. Or, STFU.

Unregistered · 02-16-2016, 01:06 PM

Originally Posted by Stephanie Gibson

A momma's worst nightmare.. I thank God nearly everyday that Joe is non-violent and pray that never changes.

These cops were screwed no matter what they did.. I see that. If they step back, slow roll when he has a handful of knife and he ends up killing someone.. the cops are blamed for not getting the dangerous situation under control.

I am not looking for bashers but serious input into how we as society can do things better in these tragic moments. I have a very personal and limited perspective on this. I am sure your experience has seen all degrees of this story.

Chief Vespia is working with the MH Task Force to explore ways to limit the interaction between Leos and the Mentally Ill. I think great strides are being made there. However, we will always have these moments arise..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...dog/?tid=sm_fb

You say Vespia is working to help explore ways to limit the interactions between the MH patient and the LEO. Really Steph you bought his bullshit, which part of uneducated GED liar didnt you catch in this forum. He has attorneys lining up to depose and expose him. How is super dud (not dude) going to accomplish this feat, he is not on the street dealing with the problem, he sits in his office talking to himself everyday. I will give him this he does have insight as to the mindset of a mental health patient now if could ever figure out how to be a cop, he could solve this problem .

**Stephanie Gibson** · 02-16-2016, 01:40 PM

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Look Stephanie,

You bother us so. OK, your kid had a concussion, so what? Who hasn't? To blame that for your outright lack of parenting and excessive coddling of your kid, and it's the big bad po-po on top of it? Get real.

Here's the deal: IT'S YOUR FAULT!! Why? Because you were more than willing to go along with this 'system' until it landed on your doorstep. Then it was KV's fault, CM as in (11 fault, this guy you call a 'LIEutenant', his fault et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Now that you are over a year into our 'careers', you want to tub-thump with the crybaby millennials who work here. Now to your answer; you want it fixed? OK, the acedemic portions of the acedemy remain at the technological institute level which is to say, you have a pulse = you pass. However, the physical/DT requirements stay with a standard black-belt level in a grappling art, such as Judo, which is about 4 years. Then you will have officers on the street fully aware of their abilities and better prepared to deescalate any given situation.

Now, are you prepared to run for office on that platform? Then head to City Hall and drop your paperwork for the next election. Or, STFU.

Well now.. at least my cowardly friend NOW you say what you really think.. I might add, a man would not throw punches while hiding behind the guest curtain.. he would have stated them directly to me but you chose otherwise.. Sorry you are mad that I didn't buy your BS

I am far from being a perfect momma.. but I can damn well attest that my son was raised with a set of morals and principles that many of the folks I have crossed paths over the past two years haven't a clue about. He knows right from wrong, he is compassionate and understanding. He is more man on his worst day than you are your best day. Now revisit the job your momma did.. bet she must be proud of your ignorance.. taking pot shots at me, at my son and dishonoring the profession.

Yes it is all my fault for 'going along with the system until is landed on my doorstep' .. Guilty as charged. Ya see until 2 years ago, I believed in the system.. not so much anymore. Experience has shown NPPD to be a whole new ball of wax.. and every time I get an inkling of hope.. your mask slips and I see the black hole behind it.

As for running for the Commission, one of my best strengths is knowing what I do and do not know.. being honest and direct. I don't have the ability, nor want the ability to sugar coat and smile while spewing garbage painted as the truths. After the door closes, you plot and scheme. Some are cut out for the role.. just not me at this point. Maybe I will learn to smile and pretend.. until then, I wouldn't run. I do not intend to STFU until I am convinced this dept is on a better path or I sit in a courtroom and listen to the words you choose when under oath and cannot hide behind your anonymity as you do here.

HINT: Be very careful of the details you spew in your petty childish rants.. it is very revealing, and speaks more truth than you.

**Stephanie Gibson** · 02-16-2016, 02:06 PM

Originally Posted by Unregistered

You say Vespia is working to help explore ways to limit the interactions between the MH patient and the LEO. Really Steph you bought his bullshit, which part of uneducated GED liar didnt you catch in this forum. He has attorneys lining up to depose and expose him. How is super dud (not dude) going to accomplish this feat, he is not on the street dealing with the problem, he sits in his office talking to himself everyday. I will give him this he does have insight as to the mindset of a mental health patient now if could ever figure out how to be a cop, he could solve this problem .

I haven't bought anything.. I do see first hand some of the work the task force is pursuing and appreciate it very much. I know why he is doing this.. but whether he has to go through the motions holding his nose to get through it.. matters not to me. I am self interested in the end result. These actions do not absolve him from his actions. For example, he was quick to suggest that I should mislead or trick Joe to get someone out here to help him. Well Chief Vespia, I understand you had the opportunity to have set a better example for us when one of your officers expressed his mental state.. instead of taking meaningful actions and getting him off the road, where is he now?

What I have tried to do again and again, is afford them every opportunity to do the right thing. When the time comes, I will have a clear conscience to take the next steps knowing I tried. I know many people dont get that but for me, it is important that I tried every avenue...

**Stephanie Gibson** · 03-20-2016, 02:04 AM

Spent most of last night and today reading through about half of the Incident reports involving the mentally ill calls in 2015. I have one head scratcher but otherwise, it reads with much soft hands. A good example was a female officer, confronting a blody young woman with a knife in hand and threatening to harm herself and others. This officer and her team were able to take her into custody without causing harming to her self, others and most especially, the girl in crisis.

For that girl and many others, thank you all.

**Stephanie Gibson** · 04-07-2016, 03:29 PM

To those NPPD Admin members who have tried to convince me that the 3 drive stuns used on Joe are somehow less harmful or hurtful than the 3 taser shots themselves.. well to them i say, READ this.

I am in no way judging these deputies, only pointing out that use of the tasers can be deadly.. and should be used judiciously.

LAW ENFORCEMENT

3 deputies on leave; man dies after subdued by Taser

By Carlos R. Munoz
carlos.munoz@heraldtribune.com

Published: Wednesday, April 6, 2016 at 12:58 p.m.

HERALD-TRIBUNE ARCHIVE
“He was running around the lobby area screaming (at staff),” said sheriff's spokesman Dave Bristow. “Just described as out of control; enough that they called us.

[B] Three Manatee County deputies have been placed on routine administrative leave while the death of a man who died after being subdued with a Taser is investigated.

The deputies were dispatched to Centerstone Behavioral Hospital at 12:25 a.m. Wednesday for a report of a man causing a disturbance at the center at 2020 26th Ave. E. in Bradenton. Christopher Erdman, 39, had been dropped off at Centerstone by his girlfriend and was displaying erratic behavior when deputies arrived, according to a Sheriff's Office new release.

“He was running around the lobby area screaming (at staff),” said sheriff's spokesman Dave Bristow. “Just described as out of control; enough that they called us.

“We tried to get him to comply and secure him but it took several minutes.” Deputies who attempted to detain Erdman used a Taser in drive stun mode, meaning the stun gun was pressed against his shoulder without firing the probes to gain compliance, the press release said. He was handcuffed by deputies and being prepared for transport to the county jail when he appeared to suffer a medical episode.

Erdman became unresponsive and was taken to Manatee Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead at 1:38 a.m. Wednesday.

“It's just a very unfortunate situation,” Bristow said. “The deputies in the initial investigation up to this point did everything they were supposed to do.
“They (Centerstone) called and he had been there for a little while. They were trying to talk to him.”
In drive stun mode, the device provides “pain compliance” when it is applied to a nerve group, said Taser spokesman Steve Tuttle.

“It's much like an iron,” Tuttle said. “Imagine if I was able to touch that iron to you. You would jump back instantly. It's not going to cause a burn but it's very similar in that your body will want to get away from that pain. You have to drive it in to keep that pain going.” The charge lasts for five seconds whether it is in probe or drive stun mode, Tuttle said, and depending on battery life can be fired more 100 times.

Erdman had not checked into Centerstone, which provides treatment, support and educational programs for individuals with mental health and addiction disorders and adults with developmental disabilities. It is not known if he was previously treated at the center.

The Sheriff's Office is investigating the cause of the death, Bristow said. The type of narcotic the man was using was not released.