CIT Training Importance

CIT Training Importance

NYAPRS Note: The following piece underscores the importance of police training on mental health issues. The upcoming NYAPRS conference will feature the nation's authority in this area, Major Sam Cochran of the Memphis Police Department, who'll be leading a panel entitled "Policing Best Practices: Memphis and Beyond" at September 30 at 4:15 pm. For more details, go to www.nyaprs.org.

Police mental health training helps families cope

Free program aims to give officers tips on real life crises

By JENNIE TUNKIEICZ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sept. 2, 2004

On the worst day of her life, Debby Ganaway said, it was the police who helped her get through it.

Ganaway, who is also the executive director of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Racine County, shared her story with the Racine County Police Chiefs Association on Thursday to underline the importance of a new and free training program on mental health issues that is now available to area departments.

Ganaway's daughter, Katy, died March 1. She was 30. Katy had struggled for years with bipolar disorder and, on that day, she took her life.

For Ganaway and her family, Katy's death is a gnawing, heart-breaking tragedy that will affect them for the rest of their lives.

For law enforcement officers, it was one of many family tragedies they frequently encounter. Those officers didn't treat it as just another tragedy. That made all the difference.

Ganaway told how officers arrived on the scene immediately after her 911 call. An officer helped her make the impossible phone calls to her husband, her other children and the funeral home. He made sure she was not alone while she waited outside while a search of her daughter's apartment was conducted.

He deflected nosy neighbors who wanted to know what was going on. He also waited to make sure she had safely driven away from the area before her daughter's body was removed from the building, guaranteeing she would not have to live with that image in her mind on top of what she already had to bear.

"The care I received on that March day has sustained me now, six months later, and will for the rest of my life," she said.

The mental health training program for law enforcement officers grew out of concerns that the judicial route was not always the best path for some of the people ending up in circuit court and subsequently, jail, Racine County Circuit Court Chief Judge Gerald Ptacek told the police chiefs group.

About 25% of the inmates at the Racine County Jail have mental health issues, Ptacek said.

A special committee, made up of mental health experts, judges, various criminal justice workers and others, started to discuss the issue about a year and a half ago, Ptacek said.

Ptacek said that by providing training to the front line - law enforcement officers - more people with mental illnesses can be directed to services that better fit their needs.

Part of the four-hour session will teach officers about the types of illnesses, what to look for to identify them, common behaviors, and kinds of medications and treatments, said Geoffrey Greiveldinger, the county executive's chief of staff. He is former executive director of National Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Racine.

While many officers get some mental health training while in school, they could go years without dealing with such a crisis. The training is aimed at giving helpful tips for dealing with real life situations, he said.

For example, officers could exacerbate a situation by whispering in front of someone who is demonstrating signs of schizophrenia, such as delusions and paranoia.

The City of Burlington Police Department is one of the few departments that has had the training.

"We were very glad we had the training," Burlington Police Chief David Walsh said. "Mental health issues are something people are not always comfortable talking about. This really helped raise awareness about it."

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

This 'Mental Health E-News' posting is a service of the New York Ass'n of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, a statewide coalition of people who use and/or provide community mental health services dedicated to improving services and social conditions for people with psychiatric disabilities by promoting their recovery, rehabilitation and rights. To join our list, please click on the E-News Subscription button.

Last Updated on 09/08/04 webmaster@namiscc.org

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