A MENTAL HEALTH NEWSLETTER FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT PROFESSIONALS
 

Mental Health America of Eastern Missouri A United Way Agency

In this issue . . .

by Major Dan Fitzgerald, Assistant Police Chief for the Brentwood Police Department.  Major Fitzgerald chairs the Street Talk Advisory Board.

Often times these articles are written about very serious subjects. That is good. But this time, we thought we would lighten things up a bit. Let’s have a good laugh!

Did you hear about the guy who had his left side amputated?  He’s all right.           

I don’t know why, but that joke always makes me laugh. Laughter is one of the most powerful medicines we have. It can relieve stress, alleviate pain and resolve conflict. Laughter has the power to solve problems, enhance relationships and benefit your physical and mental health.

Two girlfriends were speeding down the highway at well over 98 mph.

“Hey,” asked the driver, “Any cops following us?”

The passenger turned around and looked.  “Yeah, looks like it.”

“Are his flashers on?”

The passenger turned around again.

“Yep…nope…yep…nope…yep…nope…yep.”           

Laughter is a great benefit for your health. It helps relax your whole body and gets rid of tension. It decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells, improving your resistance to disease. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins (I love it when that happens), the body’s natural “feel good” chemicals. It can also improve the function of blood vessels and increase your blood flow, which is good for your heart. 

Laughter will help your mental health. It can dissolve distressing emotions and help to relax and recharge you. Laughter can help change your perspective. How many times do we deal with stressful situations, where during a call, a fellow officer interjects some humor, helping to lighten the severity of the circumstances? It really helps. 

In Modesto, CA, Steven King was arrested for trying to hold up a Bank of America without a weapon. King used his thumb and a finger to simulate a gun, but unfortunately, he failed to keep his hand in his pocket. 

Laughter can help build relationships by keeping things positive and fostering an emotional connection. Laughing with others can help you get away from your troubles. You tend to be less inhibited and able to express your emotions more freely. By making an effort to incorporate laughter into your everyday life, you will see the quality of your relationships with others improve. 

“If the police arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?”   George Carlin 

How can you bring more humor and laughing into your life? Start by smiling. Smiling is the beginning of laughter. When you look at someone or see something even mildly pleasing, practice smiling. When you hear laughter, move toward it. Seek to be around others who are laughing. Spend time with those that you know like to have fun. Find ways to bring humor into a conversation. You can create opportunities to laugh, like going to a comedy club or watching a funny movie. There is a whole section at your bookstore devoted to humorous reading. The Internet has plenty of humor-related sites, and many are geared to police officers. 

You can work at developing your own sense of humor. Learn to laugh at yourself, and share some of those embarrassing moments with others. Look for the humor in situations instead of worrying about how life has messed with you again. Learn to deal with things that are out of your control, especially the behavior of others. Pay attention to your kids and how they deal with life. It is hard to stay totally serious if you have young kids. Laughter is something your kids need to see modeled by their parents.           

Father O’Grady was saying goodbye to the parishioners after his Sunday morning service when Mary Clancy came up to him in tears.

“What’s bothering you so, dear?” asked Father O’Grady.

“Oh Father, I’ve got terrible news.” replied Mary.

“What is it, Mary?”

“Well Father, my husband passed away last night”

“Oh, Mary, that’s terrible.  Did he have any last requests?”

“Well, yes Father, he did,” replied Mary.

“What did he ask, Mary?”

Mary replied, “He said, ‘Please, Mary, put down the gun…” 

I couldn’t let you go without a little Irish humor. Let’s all work on bringing more laughter into our lives. We work in a profession that is serious and often times stressful. Learn to interject humor into your life whenever possible and appropriate. Laughter will take you to a place where you can view things from a more relaxed, positive and balanced place. Then, you too, will be all right.

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How to Improve Your Mood During Stressful Times         

By Michelle Smith, crisis care specialist at Behavioral Health Response. She received her Masters of Education from the University of Missouri – St. Louis in December 2009.

As a law enforcement officer, you may experience several crisis situations within short periods of time. Therefore your job requires you to remain focused and solution-oriented. Although this can be extremely rewarding, the stress you are under can be exhausting. Since your job can be stressful, it is important you pay attention to your mental health.   

This article will consider what you’ve been eating, what you’ve been doing, and what you’ve been thinking, as important components to your general mental health. There is a body of research that suggests what foods you take in and your level of exercise contribute to your general mood, as well as your ability to concentrate and focus. Consider these steps, as they may help you cope during stressful times: 

1.      What and how you eat is important for your mental health. A balanced diet, which contains all of the food groups, keeps the body healthy and your mind sharp. It is important that you NOT skip meals, as your body needs to maintain a regular blood sugar level. If you notice yourself feeling lightheaded, dizzy, or you feel weak, you might consider eating a snack to give your body energy and drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated. If you feel jittery or anxious, and caffeine is a normal part of your routine, you may want to consider cutting back on how much caffeine you are taking in.

Link:  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-diet/NU00200.   

2.      Manage your stress with regular exercise. Although it is difficult sometimes to find time for yourself, it is very important. Exercise is one of the best physical stress-reduction techniques available and not only improves your health and reduces stress, but also relaxes tense muscles and helps you sleep. Exercise also improves blood flow to your brain and releases endorphins into your blood stream, which is what makes you feel happy and positively affects your sense of well-being. Another important fact is that those who exercise regularly are less likely to experience burnout and are better able to handle long-term effects of stress.

Link:  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/HQ01676.        

      3.  Think positively. It is important for you to give yourself credit for good work and to remain positive even in times that you doubt your performance. If you find yourself feeling less confident, you can shift your focus by asking yourself questions such as: What are my strengths? What am I doing well? How would other officers describe me? It is very easy to be hard on yourself, so challenge yourself by focusing on positive thoughts, as it is important in stressful situations to be able to recognize things you are doing well. 

Since the nature of your job can be intense and stressful, it is important that you take time for yourself. Being able to recognize your personal and professional limits are an attribute necessary to effectively respond to a crisis situation and are imperative for long-term success as a law enforcement officer.

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By Lorena V. Merklin von Kaenel, Assistant County Counselor in the Office of the St. Louis County Counselor. Among other departments, Ms. Merklin von Kaenel represents the Police Department and its officers with respect to state and federal lawsuits and attendant appeals.

Editor’s note: In the October 2009 edition of Street Talk, the Myths and Facts column contained an article titled “Affidavits and Involuntary Commitment” which discussed the relevance of hearsay. This edition’s Law In Action column discusses a recent court case in order to provide readers with additional clarification on observation, investigation and probable cause related to Involuntary Commitment.

Involuntary commitments present one of those “gray areas” where the responding officer must quickly make a subjective determination under circumstances that are often emotionally charged.  A recent federal court decision in John Doe HM v. St. Louis County, et al., Cause No. 4:07-cv-0946 (E.D.Mo. 2009) has reaffirmed the “personal observation or investigation” standard and provides practical guidance to assess probable cause with respect to involuntary commitments.

Under Missouri law, a police officer may take a person with mental disorder into custody for purposes of evaluation and treatment. Mo.Rev.Stat. §632.305.3 (1980). Upon arrival at a mental health facility, the officer must submit an application for initial detention by filling out an affidavit which must be based upon his or her “own personal observations or investigations.” Id. In the application, the officer must allege under oath that he or she has “reason to believe that the [person] is suffering from a mental disorder and presents a likelihood of serious harm to himself or others.” Mo.Rev.Stat. §632.305.1 (1980).

John Doe HM v. St. Louis County, et al. involved the following fact pattern:

·        911 caller reports that John Doe is upset, has left a suicide note and is armed;

·        Responding officers, who have received Crisis Intervention Team training and certification sponsored by the St. Louis County Police Department, locate John Doe’s vehicle and conduct a traffic stop;

·        Search of John Doe and vehicle reveals two loaded handguns;

·        Responding officers contact an acquaintance of John Doe who expresses concern John Doe may harm himself and confirms that she is in possession of the suicide note;

·        Responding officers detain John Doe and transport him to mental health facility for evaluation; and

·        Responding officers provide a copy of their report to John Doe’s employer, a law enforcement agency.

John Doe sued the responding officers and their department for unlawful seizure under the 4^th Amendment and state law claims of false imprisonment, defamation, tortious interference with business expectancy and injurious falsehood.

After examining the facts outlined above, the Court concluded that the detention of John Doe was justified based on the officer’s observations and investigations and provided sufficient probable cause to detain and transport John Doe to a mental health facility.  John Doe’s defamation and injurious falsehood claims lacked merit and were dismissed because the responding officers were required by state law to make a police report and affidavit.  As preparation of the reports was not done with actual malice, the officers were entitled to official immunity for the state claims.  Plaintiff’s tortious interference with business expectancy claim also failed because plaintiff’s law enforcement employer was authorized to obtain a copy of the report pursuant to Missouri’s Sunshine Law. Mo.Rev.Stat. §610.120.1.  

The Court’s decision in John Doe HM v. St. Louis County, et al. reaffirms the “personal observations or investigations” standard and provides a bright line rule for law enforcement officers in the field presented with an involuntary commitment situation.  In order to detain a person for involuntary commitment, a responding officer must (1) have a reasonable perception that the individual is suffering from a mental disorder; (2) reasonably conclude that the individual has the potential to harm himself or others; and (3) conduct a reasonable, though not extensive, investigation.  Significantly, the case law uniformly finds credible threats of suicide satisfy the mental disorder requirement - even if the individual denies suicidal ideations.

Therefore, when an officer conducts a reasonable investigation, acts in good faith, and has reasonable belief that an individual has a mental disorder and is a risk to her or himself or others, then that officer may detain and take that individual to a mental health facility for psychiatric evaluation without subjecting himself or his department to civil liability. 

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By Sgt. Barry Armfeld, St. Louis County Police.  Sgt. Armfeld is the Coordinator of the County CIT Program. CIT Corner appears regularly in Street Talk.

New Course Focuses on Youth

Recently Jackie Lukitsch, Executive Director NAMI St. Louis, advised the St. Louis Area CIT Council about a relatively new concept with Crisis Intervention Teams. This new concept involved additional CIT training for officers who work with youth. 

An alarming number of youth with serious mental health treatment needs continue to enter the juvenile justice system. This happens for a variety of reasons, including a lack of psychiatric crisis intervention services in schools and communities. Many schools have proven to be a pipeline into the juvenile justice system with school personnel contacting law enforcement when students engage in disruptive behaviors, including cases involving a psychiatric crisis.   

As a result of our extraordinary success of the CIT program in the St. Louis Area, the CIT Training Committee is going to develop and provide an additional training for officers working in our schools and communities dealing with youths. One of the main reasons our CIT program is so successful is the partnership we have established between law enforcement and the mental health community including families and consumers of mental health along with advocacy organizations. We will build on these relationships and find additional ones to provide training specifically for officers who spend most of their time dealing with youth in the community and schools.   

Currently the CIT Training Committee is exploring topics and lesson plans used in Chicago, Denver and San Antonio. These locations have or are establishing CIT for youth programs on topics such as:

• Child and Adolescent Development

• Child Psychiatric Disorders

• Suicide and Self-Injurious Behavior in Youth

• Legal Issues

• Emergency Detention

• Child Abuse, Neglect and Duty to Report

• Learning Disabilities

• School Policies
  

Many more topics will be identified and discussed to make our training complete and appropriate for our area. The additional CIT training will probably consist of 24 hours of POST certified training to be held in the month of July, 2010. If you or any professional dealing with child psychiatric disorders is interested in being a part of the planning, please contact me at barmfield@stlouisco.com.  

New Departments Join CIT Program

The St. Louis Area Crisis Intervention Team program is pleased announce its newest departmental additions:  Velda City, St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley, and St. Louis Community College at Meramec. 

Newest CIT Officers

Street Talk would like to recognize and thank the following officers who recently completed the initial 40-hour CIT training program.

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