Street Talk

A MENTAL HEALTH NEWSLETTER FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT PROFESSIONALS
 

Eastern Missouri                                                                                    October-December , 2005
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Mental Health Association of Greater St. Louis
A United Way Agency

In this issue . . .

A Police Officer's Guide to Mental Retardation vs. Mental Illness At Your Service: Productive Living Board
NPSF Survey: We Need Your Help Open Mind: St. Louis Mental Health Resources
CIT Corner Street Talk Archives
Street Tips: Recognizing BiPolar Disorder Mental Health Directory
Current Issues: Mental Health Court  
   

 A Police Officer's Guide to Mental Retardation vs. Mental Illness

By Michael Maguire, Executive Director of Options For Justice since 1992. The agency is the only one of its kind in the State of Missouri and is set up to work with offenders with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities. Maguire is also a former Illinois State probation officer. He has been a trainer at the St. Louis County and Municipal Police Academy since 1993 and at the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Academy since 1997, where he has trained hundreds of police officers regarding mental retardation. Maguire can be contacted by calling 314-721-6161. 

 Michael Maguire

As a law enforcement officer, you encounter people from many walks of life. Your ability to recognize and correctly handle situations involving people with special needs, such as mental retardation, will largely determine your level of success. 

Some officers use the term “mental illness” as a catch all, or interchangeably with mental retardation. However, mental illness and mental retardation are not the same and should not be treated that way.  

In the past 30 years, the number of people with mental retardation who live in our communities has greatly increased. These individuals are typically law-abiding and can be productive citizens. Unfortunately, as with any other group of citizens, a small percentage of these individuals violate federal, state and local laws and should be held accountable for their acts.

Remember, a person with mild mental retardation may… 

Mental retardation is a developmental disability. Individuals with these disabilities may experience difficulty in areas such as self-care, self-direction, mobility, learning, language and independent living. Common developmental disabilities in addition to mental retardation include learning disabilities, autism, epilepsy, and cerebral palsy. 

Officer safety demands that you initially treat suspects with mental retardation in the same manner as you would any other suspect. However, when the situation is secure, using a calm but firm tone will usually be the best approach in communicating with these individuals.

The guidelines listed below will assist officers in becoming more aware of and increase their ability to recognize mental retardation and how it differs from mental illness:

Mental Retardation

 Mental Illness
Mental Retardation is a condition and refers to below average intelligence Mental illness has nothing to do with intelligence -- it is an illness

Mental Retardation usually occurs during the developmental years

 Mental illness can happen at any age
Mental retardation occurs in about 3% of the population As many as 16-20% of the population may experience a mental illness
Mental retardation is permanent Mental illness can be temporary, and many people recover fully

Individuals with mental retardation can be rational and perform at their levels of understanding

 

 An individual with mental illness can fluctuate between rational and irrational behavior

The majority of people with mental retardation have mild mental retardation, which can make it difficult to identify them

 Many people with mental illness may be able to hide their symptoms temporarily, and may also be difficult to identify

 

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NPSF Survey: We Need Your Help

In the last issue of Street Talk, we talked about the work being done by the National Police Suicide Foundation (NPSF) (Street Report: Police Suicide). This organization takes a proactive approach to suicide prevention. They provide a Train-the-Trainer Seminar that gives you the ability to set up training for your department and to develop a police suicide awareness policy. 

We would like to sponsor this training opportunity in St. Louis. First, we need to find out if there is interest in our police community. If you or someone from your department would like to attend this training, please e-mail Lt. Dan Fitzgerald at dfitzgerald@brentwoodmo.org. For more information on the training, contact www.psf.org.

 

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CIT Corner: CIT at Work

By Sgt. Barry Armfield,  a St. Louis County Police Officer for 31 years, with assignments in all patrol divisions including Tactical Operations.  He is the CIT supervisor for the West County Precinct, Chair Person for the CIT Training Committee and a member of the CIT Executive Committee.

Sgt. Barry Armfield, St. Louis County Police Dept.

CIT Corner appears regularly in Street Talk. CIT-trained officers will contribute articles to the column for the purpose of sharing information about the successes and expansion of CIT (Crisis Intervention Training) in the metropolitan area. 

Let me take the time to give some updates on the progress of the Crisis Intervention Team program. 

Grant received from Missouri Foundation for Health

The Greater St. Louis Area Crisis Intervention Team has started a new phase with a grant obtained from the Missouri Foundation for Health. There are new plans in process to assist officers with CIT including additional training resources. The grant pays for my new position as CIT Coordinator for the St. Louis area. My duties will include but are not limited to:

I can be reached at 314-628-5509 or Barmfield@stlouisco.com. 

The grant will also assist St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department with getting officers trained by providing money for overtime to cover the 40-hour training week. 

Richard Stevenson, NAMI-St. Louis, will be the CIT program coordinator for the mental health agencies providing instructors and program support.  

Wendy Dudek has been hired as a full-time Family Support Specialist for CIT referrals. Wendy will provide follow-up support to the consumers of services, their families, and individuals that are involved with the CIT Program. Wendy Dudek can be contacted at 314-628-5510.  

Donations Received

The CIT program received donations in the amount of $2,000 from the St. Louis Area Police Chiefs Association, and $1,000 from the Town and Country and Des Peres golf tournament. Thank you for your support. 

Mental Health Court

The St. Louis County Council recently approved an ordinance, which allows St. Louis County Mental Health Court to contract with municipalities in St. Louis County. This will allow all persons with a mental illness who have been accused of a crime to be treated with care and compassion during their involvement with the criminal process. Associate County Counselor Joyce Kelley has been instrumental in getting this accomplished and our thanks go to her for her efforts. 

CIT at Work

I recently had the opportunity to review a CIT case handled by Town and Country Police Officer John Mattingly. CIT Officers John Mattingly and Steve Nelke responded to a CIT call and represented the program in a professional manner. The parents of the consumer wrote, complimenting the officers and program: 

I would like to extend my utmost gratitude to the officers, specifically John Mattingly, who helped my family in our crisis, this past Saturday, April 16. I have a son who is mentally ill, and we needed the police assistance in diffusing a potentially hostile situation.

When I called, the dispatcher assured me the officers were crisis trained to respond to my situation. Officers John Mattingly and Steve Nelke did a wonderful job talking with my son, and convincing him to go to St. John’s Hospital for help. Officer Palmer was also a reassuring voice for my husband and me while all this was going on.

Officer Mattingly stayed at the hospital for several hours talking to my son and me. He referred quite often to the Crisis Training he had recently taken. I appreciated his thoughtfulness and insight into our situation, all the while maintaining a kind and caring attitude. The following evening he stopped by our home to drop off information he had received from this training on where to get help for my son and family.

One out of five persons is affected by mental illness. It can be devastating for not only the affected person, but for the family as well. Having a police department that is trained to respond when there is a crisis in a family dealing with a mentally ill person is invaluable. Many thanks to the Town and Country Police for providing this training to its officers. 

It is interactions like this that make the whole CIT program worth it!!!!

CIT Continuing Education

Register through Becky Murphy at the Academy at BAMurphy@stlouisco.com.

CITGrads-July05
Congratulations to the Graduates of the July, 2005 CIT Training Program

Bridgeton CIT Grads
Bridgeton Police Officers Receive their Certificates

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Street Tips: Recognizing BiPolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder differs significantly from clinical depression, although the symptoms for the depressive phase (see below) of the illness are similar. Most people who have bipolar disorder talk about experiencing "highs" and "lows" – the highs are periods of mania, the lows periods of depression. These swings can be severe, ranging from extreme energy to deep despair. The severity of the mood swings and the way they disrupt normal life activities distinguish bipolar mood episodes from ordinary mood changes.

Symptoms of mania - the "highs" of bipolar disorder


Symptoms of depression - the "lows" of bipolar disorder

No two people experience clinical depression exactly the same. Symptoms vary in severity and duration among different people. While many people understand that “sadness” and “fatigue” are symptoms of depression, far fewer understand that anxiety, sleep loss and restlessness are also early signs of clinical depression.

See your doctor if you experience 5 or more of the following symptoms for more than 2 weeks: