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Mental Health Association of Greater St.
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Street Talk |
A MENTAL HEALTH NEWSLETTER FOR
LAW ENFORCEMENT PROFESSIONALS
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Eastern Missouri Oct., 2002 |
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Mental Health Association of Greater St.
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In this issue . . .
Cover Story: Less-Lethal Munitions
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By Officer Jeremy Cantrell
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Officer Jeremy Cantrell is the course developer and lead instructor for the St. Louis County Police Department’s less-lethal training. He is a 10-year law enforcement veteran and is currently assigned as a team leader in the department’s Tactical Operations Unit. |
Contemporary American law enforcement has been called upon to offer an improvement to conventional police tactics with regard to the use of force. Incidents involving death or serious injury, particularly those in which the focus was suicide or mental illness, have come under close scrutiny. In response to a perceived gap in the force options available to officers (specifically between intermediate weapons such as the hand-held baton and an officer’s firearm), an increasing number of tools are being offered to police agencies with the intention of bridging this gap. These tools are classified as "less-lethal," a term that has become prevalent in police circles.
The less-lethal force philosophy can be described as a concept of planning, training and equipping officers to meet their mission with LESS potential for causing death or serious physical injury. But, referring to these projectiles as "non-lethal" or "less than lethal" underestimates their potential for having fatal consequences. To date, 12 deaths can be attributed to ballistically-launched impact projectiles, which statistically represents a record of lethality in less than 1% of all recorded deployments. While it is tragic when an individual is killed or injured in a less-lethal encounter, one must not lose sight of the high probability that lethal force would have been used without a less-lethal option and that numerous lives were saved in the remaining 99% of recorded deployments.
Baton projectiles are intended to deliver a consistent and non-penetrating amount of kinetic energy (energy associated with motion), and can currently be deployed from a number of types of launching systems. Target zones should be divided into the following three areas:
These designations have created some skepticism from those who say it is not realistic to deviate from a police officer’s repetitious training to target center mass when deploying a firearm. Those who say this can’t be done are accepting defeat before the battle, and should consider the large number of progressive agencies successfully using this philosophy on a regular basis. Additionally, many situations involving impact projectiles are static, and time is available for an officer to choose his target area.
In closing, the necessary and appropriate use of deadly force will unfortunately always be a part of law enforcement, regardless of the mental state of the recipient. Fortunately, as technology progresses, police agencies benefit by being empowered with valuable tools that can reduce the potential of death or injury to all persons involved in a critical situation. However, none of these tools is the fabled "magic bullet," and agencies must make critical decisions regarding the intelligent and safe implementation of a less-lethal program. Officers must be thoroughly trained and familiarized to properly deploy these munitions so they may benefit from an enhancement of their own safety while employing an option to the use of lethal force.
At Your Service: Behavioral Health Response
| By Al Fressola, MA, CEAP, Vice President of Operations at BHR |
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Behavioral Health Response (BHR) is the nonprofit organization developed seven years ago by the Eastern Region Administrative Agents (AAs) of the Missouri Department of Mental Health to plan, coordinate and deliver mental health crisis services for the more than two million residents of the region. The components of the crisis intervention system coordinated by BHR include:
Since its inception, BHR has worked closely with law enforcement agencies throughout the region. BHR is proud to co-produce Street Talk along with the Mental Health Association of Greater St. Louis. BHR regularly conducts training for new recruits at the St. Louis County and Municipal Police Academy and has made scores of presentations to officers and dispatchers from dozens of departments.
In addition to educational presentations, BHR professionals interact with law enforcement officers on a daily basis. The most common types of collaboration include:
Along with NAMI of St. Louis, the Mental Health Association, the St. Louis County Police Department and many others, BHR is promoting the development of Crisis Intervention Teams (CITs) within St. Louis area departments. By the time this article is published, BHR will have participated in the weeklong CIT Training program offered in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. This experience will help BHR take an active role in the training of local teams. We expect that close collaboration between CITs and BHR Mobile Outreach teams will enhance services for mental health consumers and improve the safety, effectiveness and efficiency of law enforcement department responses to mental health crises.
If you have general questions or comments about BHR, please call the administrative office at 314-469-4908. If you would like to request assistance with a mental health crisis situation, please call the hotline at 314-469-6644 or 800-811-4760 (Toll-free), or 314-469-3638 (TDD).
Mental Health and Money: Stock Market Induced Anxiety
| By Lawrence E. Shapiro, Second Vice President-Investments at Salomon Smith Barney. |
Since its peak in March 2000, the stock market has had a dramatic reversal of fortune. A number of things contributed to the stock market’s multi-year slide including the Internet, technology, and telecommunications bubble; a significant increase in interest rates; a significant decrease in interest rates; a large-scale terror attack centered on the financial capital of the world, the war on terror, corporate shenanigans, large-scale bankruptcies and others.
These events have created a great deal of uncertainty about the capital markets. A principle from the field of cognitive psychology further affects the markets and how you feel about your own investments: When faced with an ambiguous situation, most people will predict a negative outcome rather than a positive outcome. From the same field of psychology, a person can have a hundred positive experiences and all it takes is one negative to wipe out all of those positives. Unfortunately, the reverse is not true. One positive experience generally will not wipe out a series of negatives.
These basic psychological principles can affect how you handle the ups and downs of investing. Understanding how you think can help you determine a course of action going forward. Here are a few examples of what you can do now to ease some of the anxiety associated with investing in the current climate:
Remember that investing takes work and attention. If you are unwilling to put in a little time and effort, the stock market may not be right for you. Just as in life, being proactive with your investments will help you feel more comfortable and confident and allow you to be more objective rather than be pushed around by subjective negativity.
*This strategy does not guarantee a profit or protect against loss.
Current Issues: Budget Cuts Affect Law Enforcement
| By Jim House, Executive Director of
the Mental Health Association of Greater St. Louis
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During the past Legislative session, Governor Holden recommended $118 million in cuts from the Department of Mental Health with $92 million put back in through the Rainy Day Fund. The Mental Health Association determined early that the Rainy Day Fund would not be used.
In the St. Louis metropolitan area, figures showed that over 16,000 seriously ill children and adults would lose services and vitally needed medications. About 2,600 children and adults with mental retardation would lose services. Over 11,500 adults would lose substance abuse treatment services. 75% of alcohol and drug abuse treatment programs would close. Seven hundred people in the St. Louis area would become homeless overnight.
The Legislature restored the $92 million to the budget without using the Rainy Day Fund.
The Department of Mental Health did take some $32 million in cuts. However, the majority of these cuts came from administration and not from treatment programs.
What happens to you, your workload and law enforcement in general when the Department of Mental Health takes budget cuts?
In California, the closing of a state mental hospital precipitated a threefold increase in the jail population in Santa Clara County. 1
Homeless people with severe mental illness cost the government just as much if they receive housing and other services than if they receive no services at all and are left to the streets. 2
Homeless mentally ill adults cost taxpayers an average of $40,449 per year in shelter, corrections, and health care, and inpatient services. 2
16% of State prisoners are identified as mentally ill. 3
Over three-quarters of mentally ill inmates had been sentenced to time in prison or jail or on probation at least once prior to their current sentence. 3
On average, mentally ill State inmates serve 15 months longer than other inmates in prison. 3
Your workload increases because people with mental illness who cannot get treatment and medications become sicker and sicker and eventually, in many cases, become police problems.
You can make a difference! Call your State Representative and State Senator and make them aware of the increased workload you will face if the State balances its budget on the backs of people with mental illness, mental retardation and alcohol/drug abuse.
Jim House is active in statewide legislative advocacy to improve the delivery of services to persons with mental illness.
In the Limelight - St. Charles County Sheriff's Dept.
On July 9, 2002, about 10:30 p.m., the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department was notified of a woman wandering through traffic in the 3900 block of Mid Rivers Mall Drive. Several motorists stopped to ensure the woman was safe, however, they observed she was clutching a razor blade and bleeding profusely from a laceration to her left arm.
Witnesses advised arriving deputies that the woman had left the roadway and sat down at the front doors of Calvary Church, adjacent to Mid Rivers Mall Drive. When contacted by deputies, the woman repeatedly shouted she wanted to die. Any attempt to calm and console the woman resulted with her continuing to lacerate her left arm. The woman was seated in an expanding pool of blood; she obviously meant to harm herself or anyone that might try to assist her.
To place the woman in protective custody, the decision was made to utilize Less Lethal Force to distract the woman long enough to subdue her without injuring anyone. Patrol Supervisors, members of the Tactical Response Team, and Field Training Officers of the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department decided to rely upon their training in the deployment of Less Lethal Force: beanbag rounds fired from a .12 gauge shotgun.
While the woman was engaged in conversation with a Patrol Supervisor, a Tactical Response Team member sighted on the razor in the woman’s right hand. Upon hearing a pre-determined phrase used in the conversation, the TRT deputy fired the beanbag round. It struck the woman’s right index finger, forcing her to drop the razor blade. Immediately, other deputies, with a backboard from an ambulance, pinned the woman to the ground while another deputy safely handcuffed the woman and began administering first aid. The woman was safely placed in protective custody and taken to St. Joseph Health Center (St. Charles) for treatment.
Members of the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department involved in this incident were Deputies Dan Jones, Joe Fry, Matt Lindsey, David Cathey, and Sgt. Jim Shrank.
Street Talk applauds the officers’ decision to use a less lethal approach to handle this potentially fatal incident and to ensure the woman was taken to an appropriate facility for treatment.
Street Tips
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By Officer Jeremy Cantrell (See Cover Story) |
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As American law enforcement realizes the value of less-lethal force options, police trainers must address issues regarding their proper and intelligent deployment. Unfortunately, the decision to use or not use impact munitions situationally may often be harder to make than the decision to use deadly force.
Deadly force justification hinges on readily apparent deadly threat, either to an officer or another. Scenarios in which less-lethal tools are employed may not demonstrate such clear-cut imminent danger. Therefore, the decision to launch baton projectiles must be based on the need to stop the subject’s behavior vs. the acceptability of the potential injury.
Impact munitions are intended to reduce the potential of death or serious injury to all persons involved in a given situation, and should be used to:
b) Control/detain or arrest a suspect
c) Protect officers or other persons from harm, including the subject from self-inflicted injury
When evaluating the use of baton projectiles, valuable references for law enforcement officers are the contemporary, nationally recognized safety priorities. These are listed in descending order of whose behalf the police officers acts in a crisis:
Adherence to this hierarchy will empower officers to make proper decisions in critical situations, while ignoring them may create inappropriate levels of officer jeopardy or unnecessary and/or avoidable confrontations. Officers should be aware that although many situations appropriately require confrontation, managing officer jeopardy is not just for the suspect’s sake, but for our own as well.
Officers would be well-served to commit to memory the phrase: "We are not in control of a suspect’s actions, we are only in control of our own." When dealing with persons with mental illness, officers have an obligation to protect themselves and the public, should the subject be armed or present a potential threat. Initially, priority should go to evacuating bystanders and setting parameters to contain the distressed individual, then the focus can be re-directed to assist him/her.
| By Jim House, Executive Director, Mental Health Association of Greater St. Louis | |
Q: What must be alleged to involuntarily commit someone for mental health treatment?
A: A person who is alleged to have a severe mental disorder, mental illness or substance abuse problem and presents a likelihood of serious harm to self or others may be committed to a mental health facility or an alcohol or drug abuse program for 96-hour evaluation and treatment (632.005.(22) RSMo).
Q: Is a private facility required to accept an involuntarily committed person if the officer has a court order?
A: The answer is no. Pursuant to a court order, a public mental health facility must provisionally accept but a private facility may accept (632.310.(1) RSMo) the individual.
Q: What is my liability if I try to get someone committed?
A: No peace officer responsible for detaining a person pursuant to the chapter, or transporting any person upon the request of a Mental Health Coordinator (632.300 RSMo), or acting to the request of a guardian (Chapter 475 RSMo), or upon the request of the head of any supervisory mental health program (632.337 RSMo), regardless of whether the peace officer is outside the jurisdiction for which he/she serves as a peace officer, during the detention or transportation shall be civilly liable for detaining or transporting a person so long as such duties were performed in good faith and without gross negligence (632.440 RSMo).
Q: Do I need to take someone home if I make application directly to a mental health facility and they are not accepted for treatment?
A: When a law enforcement officer submits an application, the public or private mental health facility may provisionally accept. If the application is not accepted, the officer shall arrange for or furnish needed transportation. However, the facility shall furnish transportation to the individual’s place of residence or other appropriate place if the application is not accepted and is being made by someone other than a law enforcement officer (362.310.(5) RSMo).
Where possible, I have cited the Missouri Statute that applies to the question. If you would like a handy reference brochure that specifically cites MO statutes regarding involuntary commitment, contact the Mental Health Association at 314-773-1399 or info@mhagstl.org.
Do you have a question about mental health, mental illness, or how to handle a specific situation? Call (314-773-1399), fax (314-773-5930) or e-mail (info@mhagstl.org) your questions to us and we'll answer them in this newsletter.
Open Mind is a column produced by the Mental Health Association, which appears weekly in many Suburban Journals. Click here for the reprint above and access to the entire Open Mind Archive on this website.
Officers
Oct. 18, 2002: Domestic Violence in the Family (8 Hours)
Oct. 24, 2002: Basic Financial Planning for Law Enforcement (8 Hours)
Nov. 8, 2002: Recognizing and Dealing with Persons with Mental Illness (8 Hours)
Dec. 3, 2002: Managing Aggressive Behavior (4 Hours)
Dispatchers
Oct. 28, 2002: Dealing with Mental Health Crisis in the Elderly, Abuse and Alzheimer's Disease (8 Hours)
Nov. 1, 2002: Domestic Violence, Suicidal Callers, Hostage Calls (8 Hours)
All courses are offered at the St. Louis County and Municipal Police Academy in Wellston. Call 314-889-8600 for enrollment information.
We have begun archiving past issues of Street Talk on this website.
Click here for the April 2002 issue.
Click here for the July 2002 issue.
Following is a dated index of previous articles that have appeared in Street Talk. To get a copy of any article or a previous issue, please call LaDonna Haley at 314-773-1399.
January 2001
"It Worked for Me" (Officer Gorman)
Holiday blues vs. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
What should I know about Bipolar Disorder?
"When it finally hit home – part 1" (FBI agent Burt Jensen)
Public policy, mental health, your work
Liability issues for officers and departments
In the Limelight: Hazelwood PD
At Your Service: St. Patrick Center
April 2001
I’d like you to know (helpful hints)
Dealing with frequent callers
"When it finally hit home – part 2" (FBI agent Burt Jensen)
July 2001
Officer and Department of the year awards
At Your Service: Provident Counseling
Q&A: All about EAP’s
Know your mental health options
What does confidentiality really mean?
October 2001
Rethinking our strategies (John Bozarth)
Anger management
Helping peers in distress
In the Limelight: Ballwin and Hazelwood PD’s
Department of Mental Health Administrative Agents
| BJC Behavioral Health/Great Rivers Division (north St. Louis County) | 314-729-4004 |
| BJC Behavioral Health/Great Rivers Division (south St. Louis County) | 314-729-4004 |
| BJC Behavioral Health/St. Louis Division (south St. Louis City) | 314-729-4004 |
| Comtrea (Jefferson County) | 636-931-2700 |
| Crider Center for Mental Health (Franklin, Lincoln, St. Chas, Warren Co.) | 636-332-6000 |
| Hopewell Community Mental Health Services (north St. Louis City) | 314-531-1770 |
| Community Mental Health Resources | |
| BHR (Behavioral Health Response) 24-Hour Crisis Hotline | 1-800-811-4760 |
| Life Crisis Services, Inc. 24-Hour crisis Hotline | 314-647-HELP |
| Mental Health Association (Education, Information, Referral) | 314-773-1399 |
Visit These Websites For FACT SHEETS & Other Mental Health Resource Information:
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Advisory Board Chair Vice Chair John Bozarth Lisa Caraffa, Ph.D. Tony Cuneo, LCSW Al Fressola, MA, CEAP Tom Jones Officer Barb Kaighin Deputy J.P Lashley Captain Mike Mansker Keith Shaw, Ph.D.
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Street Talk Editor Print Version Graphic Layout/Design Web Version Layout/Design Publishers Published quarterly by Behavioral Health Response and Mental Health Association of Greater St. Louis, a United Way Agency, to provide mental health and mental illness information to law enforcement professionals. Contents copyright © 2002 Behavioral Health Response and Mental Health Association of Greater St. Louis, a United Way Agency. All rights reserved. Written permission must be obtained from Mental Health Association of Greater St. Louis for reprints and duplication in any form. For Further Information Contact: Mental Health Association
of Greater St. Louis Behavioral Health Response,
Inc. Articles and comments from law enforcement professionals are welcomed and encouraged. |
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This website is designed and maintained by Barry Schapiro at Business Resource Group. Please address any technical issues via e-mail to: bjschapiro@aol.com
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