Guest columnists Tom Wetzel and Denise DeBiase are certified law enforcement executives with over 60 years of combined police experience.
Do you know anyone who has ever struggled with a mental illness or been in a psychiatric crisis? Most Americans will probably answer yes.
For police officers, that “yes” is a given.
Between the two of us and the cops we have personally served with, thousands of people in need have benefited from our caretaking efforts.
And it’s noteworthy that we tend to assist the same customers multiple times over long periods, due to the complexity of those struggling with mental health challenges.
What we have both seen over the years is a tremendous level of compassion demonstrated by police officers toward those in crisis. We are usually the first faces of professional help they see, and we have the opportunity to set the right tone for how our assistance will be received.
As a result, these situations are almost always resolved through kindness and patience and rarely involve any physical force by the officers.
Officers, typically with the assistance of firefighters and paramedics, are critical lifelines for so many people. Together, these public servants put them on a path or point them in the direction of other resources that can provide the advanced professional assistance needed for long-term success.
Our community has some tremendous organizations that work hard to help those who have mental health needs. Some of them work in close coordination with police officers -- a classic example of community policing in action.
A lot of cops in our area are trained as Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) officers through the Cuyahoga County ADAMHS Board (Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services). The director of training and education for that board and CIT coordinator is a wonderful and deeply committed woman named Carole Ballard.
Director Ballard routinely shares important groundbreaking information with her CIT peers; this helps strengthen the team approach that is vital for handling these types of calls for service.
Additionally, the ADAMHS Board has other types of training for individuals who are not police officers, such as Mental Health First Aid. This is a public education program that introduces participants to risk factors and warning signs of mental illnesses, builds understanding of their impact and provides an overview of common support systems.
Similar to CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) training, Mental Health First Aid prepares participants to interact with a person in crisis and connect that person with help.
The ADAMHS Board is also involved with other programs such as the Ohio MHAS (Mental Health and Addiction Services) Peer Recovery Supporter Training and QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) Suicide Prevention Training, which teaches how to recognize the warning signs of a person in a suicidal crisis and how to refer them to help.
Many police officers are well equipped to deal with mental health interventions, in part thanks to the training programs like those that the ADAMHS Board provides. We are glad to add these tools of compassion and understanding to our duty belts, because they help us do our jobs better.
Serving someone experiencing a mental health crisis is one of the most important things a cop can do, and our public is well served thanks to the empathy and professionalism of their public servant guardians.
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