Police play growing role in mental health care
Before Newtown police officers began working with local mental health providers, they were called to address problems with one family 241 times over six to seven years.
But after the family was directed to the Newtown Center for Support and Wellness, police never received another call from the family.
“Within months, they really put a clamp and helped this family,” Newtown Officer Maryhelen McCarthy said.
It’s an example of Newtown and other police departments’ efforts to ensure people with mental illness are connected with the resources they need, rather than hurting themselves or others or ending up in handcuffs.
“I’m not the medical expert,” McCarthy said. “I’m a BandAid, and we want to get them to services, so we’re not just a BandAid. Maybe we can promote healing.”
Newtown Police Department’s focus on mental health was accelerated by the Sandy Hook shootings, but departments across the state train their officers to assist people with mental illness. Mental health clinicians work directly with Newtown, Danbury and some state police troopers, while Brookfield is considering bringing in these professionals.
How officers are trained
Responding to a mental health crisis can be one of the most dangerous calls a police officer can take, said Rainer Kroll, an assistant professor in the justice and law administration program at Western Connecticut State University.
“They are fluid,” said Kroll, who served in the New York Police Department for 35 years. “You have no idea what’s going on. That's why we rely on our tactics to get us through our situations.”
Some local and state police officers learn how to intervene during a crisis by taking a course with the Connecticut Alliance to Benefit Law Enforcement. The 40hour course, based on a model started in Memphis, Tenn. in 1998, teaches officers how to calm people with mental illness and prevent them from harming themselves or others.
“Most people with mental illnesses are not dangerous,” said Louise Pyers, executive director and founder of the alliance. “They are more fearful than dangerous, so (what) we ask the officers to consider is to try to slow things down.”
About 70 state, federal and municipal police agencies have trained through the alliance and about 50 have specific policies for crisis intervention, she said. The organization recommends 25 percent of the department be trained on this.
Officers learn how to ask calming questions and how people’s brains work, State Police Trooper Christine Jeltema said.
“We want to acknowledge their emotions first,” she said. “Once you can acknowledge their emotions, you can start to figure out what the true issue is and go from there.”
Officers usually volunteer to take the course, but those that do not still learn these techniques through indepartment training sessions, police said.
Twentytwo Danbury officers have taken the advanced course. The department has considered making it a requirement, but Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour said he does not think it would be as effective.
“In situations like that, you want to have officers that have the skill set and really want to do that,” he said. “They might not have the communication skill set to deal with it.”
“All the officers can recognize signs and try to get the appropriate help when time permits,” he added. “Everything is contingent on time permitting.”
Challenges
Sometimes, there is little chance for officers to slow down the situation.
“No two days are the same and no two incidents are the same,” Ridenhour said. “What worked last time may not work next time. You have, in some cases, literally seconds to decide on a course of action.”
That’s what police said happened on July 3 when Danbury Police Officer Alex Relyea shot and injured 31yearold Bristol resident Aaron Bouffard. Bouffard, whose mother said he has bipolar disorder, was coming toward officers with a knife and had fought early that morning with clients and staff at the Midwestern Connecticut Council of Alcoholism.
The investigation into July’s shooting is ongoing, but a prosecutor ruled Relyea was justified in using fatal force in December 2018 shooting. The police chief and the mayor have said they believe Relyea acted appropriately in July’s shooting, too.
Relyea has not taken the advanced course on crisis intervention, but has been taught the basics, Ridenhour said.
It is rare for police to shoot people who have a mental illness, said Hasan Arslan, an associate professor in the justice and law administration program at Western Connecticut State University.
Victims had a mental illness in about 20 percent of officerinvolved shootings, he found in researching more than 4,000 of these shootings from 2000 to part of 2018.
People with mental health issues often think and process differently than others, which makes it harder for officers to communicate with them, police said.
“My biggest challenge is finding that connection for communication and overcoming any misconceived notions that someone might have,” said Brookfield Sgt. Chris Rosado, who is one of a handful of officers in that department trained on crisis intervention. “Unless you’ve dealt with them before, you don't really know that their thought process is.”
Officers should try outofthebox strategies, Kroll said. When he worked for the New York Police Department in the 1990s, officers once gave crack cocaine to an armed man who requested it during a standoff. Once the man got high off the drug and passed out, officers handcuffed him, Kroll said.
This tactic likely would not get approved today, but Kroll said unique ideas are still effective.
“Innovate,” he said. “Try something different.”
The aftermath
The key part is following up with people after the initial crisis, officers said.
“Crisis intervention is as much about the aftermath as the incident itself,” McCarthy said. “Our goal is to have this person not need the police again.”
In Newtown and Danbury, a mental health clinician comes with officers on calls and follows up to ensure patients are being treated.
Community members have said the process is effective, said Melissa McShane, the clinician with the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, who spends four days with Danbury and one day with Newtown.
“We’re seeing them at their worst,” she said. “But they are so thankful for the way they are treated, for the way their loved one is treated and appreciative that these departments have a followup service.”
Before the Sandy Hook tragedy, only two Newtown officers were trained on crisis intervention. Now, 18 of the department’s 26 patrol officers are trained, McCarthy said.
After the tragedy, officers were required to seek counseling for themselves and are able to empathize with others in the community who are struggling, she said. This has broken down the stigma of mental illness, she said.
“We’ve lived through,” McCarthy said. “We’ve felt the pain of our community, and we’ve been a part of that pain. We feel it’s important to treat everyone in crisis.”