of Bucks County
Pennsylvania
Bucks County's Voice on Mental Illness
NAMI PA
Bucks County
|
|
|
MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS Number 1-800-499-7455
|
CIT UPDATE
posted Jan. 17, 2010 On Friday January 15th, 2010, the second class of 24 new CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) officers graduated, receiving certification and lapel pin designating each as a Bucks CIT officer. The Graduation took place at Bucks County Community College Lower Bucks Campus. 24 Officers from Bensalem Twp Police Dept, Northampton Twp P.D., Middletown Twp P.D., Lower Southampton P.D., Lower Makefield Twp P.D. , Newtown Twp P.D., New Britain Twp P.D., 2 officers from Bucks County Corrections and 1 from Bucks County Adult Probation/Parole participated in the weeklong training leading to certification as CIT officers. This brings the total of trained CIT officers in Bucks to nearly 50. see Bucks CIT Next week-long training begins October, 2010.
The first class of CIT officers completed their training and graduated September 18, 2009 Police learn to deal with mentally challenged
Bucks County Courier Times
The first local police officers have completed training
in a national jail diversion program designed to improve
interaction with people who have mental or developmental
disabilities.
full story
Bucks County NAMI began advocating for a Crisis Intervention Team in September 2006. Training police to think differently about mental illnessBy: JO CIAVAGLIA Bucks County Courier Times
Police in four Bucks towns soon will be trained in a jail diversion
program designed to prevent violent interactions between cops and people
with mental illness.
The strange voices that Julie hears four hours a day are sometimes loud and overlap making it hard to focus when other people, like police officers, are speaking to her. Julie has schizoaffective disorder, a common chronic mental illness that can result in suicidal or manic behaviors. A few times when she experienced a mental break, police were called. Seven years ago, four police officers barged into her hotel room, she said. They were screaming orders, which scared Julie since she didn't think she was doing anything wrong. The next thing she knew, the officers surrounded and handcuffed her and dragged her out of the hotel. "It was very embarrassing and demoralizing," said Julie, who didn't want her last name used. "It was a terrible experience." Also a common one for people with mental illness or brain disorders such as autism spectrum disorder who find themselves on the wrong side of the law, mental health advocates say. Such police interactions have the potential to escalate quickly, putting at risk police and the individuals. To avoid these scenarios, four Bucks County police departments are piloting a program used in more than 500 communities nationwide called a Crisis Intervention Team, or CIT. The jail diversion program is designed to improve police interactions involving people with mental or brain disorders. Bensalem, Bristol, Bristol Township and Northampton patrol officers will be the first in the county formally trained in CIT later this year, according to county officials. The officers already have completed an introductory session during which they heard people like Julie talk about their police encounters. Since February, three fatal shootings by police have occurred in Bucks County, all later determined as justified. The most recent involved a Middletown police officer who killed a brick-wielding man who had first assaulted a teen outside the Oxford Valley Mall in April. Police later learned that Tommy Lovett, 21, had a history of learning disabilities and had served two years of probation for assault charges two years earlier for a similar attack at a group home where he lived. The Memphis Police Department was the first to create a team of trained officers who respond to mental crisis calls. The model emerged from a partnership between the police, the city's National Alliance on Mental Illness chapter, mental health providers and two universities. Since the model was adopted in 1988, only two Memphis officers (who had no CIT training) have shot mentally ill suspects. The department also has seen significant declines in mentally ill individuals in jail custody, injuries among police officers and people with mental illness, and involuntary commitments. The Bucks County CIT task force was created last July after almost two years of groundwork, including meetings with local mental health and law enforcement officials and families. In conjunction with its implementation, the county has started enhancing mental services, including expanding crisis center hours, hiring more crisis center security and a nurse practitioner who can prescribe medications, which could avoid an involuntary mental health commitment. County officials hope the CIT program can relieve some of the overcrowding in the county prison by removing people with mental or behavior disorders who would be better addressed in a treatment setting. Mental health workers regularly identify county inmates with serious mental illness, and in many cases their criminal charges can be directly connected with their illness, said Bernard McBride, director of the county's behavior health system. In the last year alone, McBride knows of three county criminal court cases involving police encounters with adults with autism disorders. An estimated 4 percent to 8 percent of county prisoners have major, chronic mental illness or other brain disorders, said Harris Gubernick, Bucks County prison director. While a low number, managing them requires the most time and resources, Gubernick said. "That doesn't mean everyone with a mental health problem doesn't belong here," he added. "It's knowing which one is which." Learning curve The calls that cops say they dread the most are the involuntary mental health commitments, better known as a 302. The confrontations are unpredictable. The individuals are irrational, unstable and uncooperative. If the calls occur when mental health provider offices are closed, police are left with only two options: arrest or commit to a short-term psychiatric hospital. But the involuntary commitment process can take hours, which takes the officer off the street. "It's easier to get a commitment for a crime than to get them into the hospital," Gubernick said. This is how people experiencing a mental crisis end up in jail, mental health advocates say. Also, how police approach a situation involving a person in crisis can inadvertently escalate tensions, mental health professionals and advocates say. Police are trained to quickly take control of a crime scene, but shouting orders and directions can heighten feelings of paranoia and defensiveness, especially if the person is delusional, mental health professionals say. People with mental disorders may avoid eye contact, which police could interpret as deceitful or disrespectful. Police could have prejudices or stereotypes about mental illness too. What CIT training does is give police officers a deeper understanding of the major mental illnesses and developmental disabilities, symptoms, medications and techniques for deescalating situations, said Bensalem Director of Public Safety Fred Harran, who has undergone CIT training. "Mental illness is a disease; it's not something they can shake off," Harran said. Bensalem has responded to an increasing number of calls involving mental illness recently. The calls increased 11 percent between 2007 and 2008, and, at the current rate, could rise 18 percent this year, Harran said. The training emphasizes creating closer relationships between law enforcement and the mental health system so they can work together and direct a person into treatment, and if appropriate, avoid criminal charges. Bucks County NAMI chapter member Agnes McFarlane doesn't believe many police realize how their actions are interpreted those experiencing a mental break. "They just don't always understand what is going on. They take it as disobeying their order or resisting." said McFarlane, who also serves on the CIT task force. "People who don't have that experience in the family or study it or treat people, they don't know what to expect." Keep calm Most who have police run-ins describe the experience as negative, said Julie, a peer support counselor at Lenape Valley Foundation, the county's crisis mental health service provider and a CIT task force member. To understand the mind of a person experiencing a psychotic break, think about how you feel when a police car is following you, she said. If you feel nervous and anxious, imagine hearing voices or having hallucinations, too. If the person is paranoid, an aggressive, approaching officer might elicit a defense response. Police sirens can be scary and distracting. Memory lapses are common. "When someone is in a psychotic state of mind, they have a hard time following directions so police may need to repeat themselves," she said. At introductory trainings, Julie has told police officers that speaking calmly and using simple, direct statements is the best approach. Don't lie. Don't be in a hurry. Don't treat the person like a child. Talk directly to the person, not just their family or friends. Simple advice, but it does work, she said. A few years ago - when Julie had another psychotic break - the police officer who appeared at her door had a smile on his face. He introduced himself, explained why he and the other officers were there, and asked Julie to go with them. He even used the word, please. "I wasn't afraid at all," she said. "I know it's hard to go into a potentially dangerous situation with a smile on their faces, but smiling and a calm demeanor might help sooth the person."
July 05, 2009
Recent history of fatal police shootings in Bucks
Bucks County Courier Times
September 2008
The McCaffrey case: Middletown police officer fatally shot Jennifer McCaffrey, 30, inside her home in what the district attorney later characterized as "suicide by cop." Police arrived at McCaffrey's home after receiving a 911 call from Jennifer's father, who said he was concerned for his daughter. He told the 911 operator that in a phone conversation his daughter had said something like, "Are you ready for this?" then he heard a gunshot over the phone. When a police officer entered the bedroom he saw a hand holding a gun through the partially opened bi-fold doors of a closet. The gun was pointed at him, the DA report said. After repeatedly warning McCaffrey to come out and igniting a pepper spray ball with no response, McCaffrey fired three shots in the direction of the officer in the bedroom. The officer returned fire killing her. Police found McCaffrey with her left hand on a gun and her index finger on the trigger. Another gun was in her right hand. McCaffrey had barricaded herself behind some boxes, and boxes of ammunition were in the closet as well. The district attorney ruled the police shooting as justified. February 2009 The Pagano case: A Bristol Township police officer fatally shot Randall Pagano, 26, in his apartment after Pagano charged at law enforcement officers wielding a piece of broken glass. It remains unclear why Pagano refused to cooperate with two police officers and a probation officer. The district attorney ruled the shooting justified. April 2009 The Smith case: Bristol police fatally shot a knife-wielding, apparently intoxicated, 69-year-old man after a car stop, following a brief struggle on April 9. Charles Smith reportedly was weaving in traffic and struck several parked cars when police stopped him and ordered him out of his vehicle. Smith ignored the orders. Blood tests found Smith's blood alcohol level was more than three-times the legal limit. Smith's driver's license had been suspended for medical reasons and due to a prior DUI. He was partially paralyzed due to a stroke. One police officer broke the driver's side window and put his hand into the car to turn off the ignition on Smith's car. That's when Smith reached into the center console and pulled out a chef's knife with an 8-inch blade and began making slicing motions at the officers when he was fatally shot. The district attorney ruled the shooting was justified. The Lovett case: A Middletown police officer shot and killed a brick-wielding man outside the Oxford Valley Mall on April 24. The shooting occurred in a wooded area behind the mall after witnesses told police that Tommy Lovett, 21, of Middletown attacked a 17-year-old girl outside the food court, choking her and sticking his fingers in her eyes. After Lovett ran from mall security guards, police arrived and told him to stop. Lovett appeared angry, aggressive, refused to back down and continued approaching a police officer, according to a District Attorney's Office investigation. Lovett first swung a tree branch at the officer then climbed over a large tree that had fallen over. The officer followed him and was preparing to use pepper spray, when Lovett picked up the brick. In 2006, Lovett was sentenced in Bucks County Court to two years of probation for assault charges stemming from an attack at the Bristol Township group home where he lived. In that case, Lovett hit another man several times in the head with a brick during an argument.
July 05, 2009 02:10 AM
Crisis Intervention Team Training Up Close
posted Feb. 3, 2009 Ed Donahue from Aldie Counseling Center in Bensalem and I had the privilege of attending the 40-hour Camden County Crisis Intervention Team training in Collingswood, NJ the week of November 17-21, 2008. It was an exceptional experience. Throughout the week we heard from experts who presented topics such as:
The training gave us a renewed appreciation of the dangers police officers often face in their daily work and reinforced our advocacy for a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) in Bucks County. Police Officers need jail-diversion resources for getting help for those in crisis as an alternative to arrest and jail. CIT requires a teamwork approach between law enforcement, mental health providers and NAMI consumers and family members. Reflecting that fact, speakers included: psychologists, a psychopharmacologic expert, Camden County Mental Health Administrators, NAMI Camden County President, and NAMI family members with their personal stories of police calls involving their loved ones. We also heard from a mental health attorney covering legal issues, members of the Mental Health Association of Southwestern NJ, trained CIT Officers, Steininger Behavioral Healthcare staff, advocates and consumers. The latter part of the week was devoted to learning techniques of de-escalation of crisis situations through role-playing. Everyone participated in complex crisis intervention scenarios portrayed by actors and consumers. The officers came away with a better appreciation of the significant role they play in de-escalating crisis situations and developing strategies to attain safe and peaceful resolutions. There were several video presentations throughout the training. One in particular spoke to the importance of officer and consumer safety. Collingswood Police Detective Thomas Hartshaw gave a vivid description of an incident that he encountered shortly after taking the CIT training. Detective Hartshaw responded to a disturbance on a warm spring evening at a park with several citizens around, including children playing at the playground. A tense situation evolved where Detective Hartshaw encountered a man wandering in the park, who had not taken his medication for schizophrenia, carrying a 15” butcher knife. The man tried several times to inflict physical harm on himself using the knife and repeatedly asked the police to shoot him. Detective Hartshaw had just completed Crisis Intervention Team training two weeks prior to this situation. CIT training gave him the “tools” to de-escalate a tense situation successfully, without legal charges, and the ability to bring the man to a mental health crisis center where he could get mental health services he needed rather than to jail. CIT teaches patience. This was a dramatic example of how a trained officer had one more tool to resolve a situation safely and peacefully. One of the presenters, Dr. Joel Friedman, PhD from the Center for Family Guidance covered an overview of major mental illness (3 hrs.) and Borderline & Other Personality Disorder (2 hrs.). He also works with the Camden County Jail, and accompanied us on a tour of that facility. The visit to the Camden County Corrections Facility (Camden Jail) was a sobering experience. We met with the Assistant Warden, and members of the staff who are responsible for mental health services for the inmates. The jail is a terrible place for anyone, but it can be especially terrifying to those who suffer mental illness. Many of the officers had never been that far inside the jail to see how mental health services, or the lack thereof, are administered. Seeing the conditions first hand at the jail made a deep impression. Some have said that they would have to think twice before arresting anyone knowing that they might end up there. Other site visits during the week included: Steininger Crisis Screening/CIT Triage Center, and other Camden County facilities including the Health Services Center (Lakeland Hospital), Office of Veterans Affairs, Corrections Facility, Mental Health Association Self Help Center, South Jersey Behavioral Health/PACE Program & Intensive Outpatient Services (IOP). We learned a lot from Chief Thomas Garrity, Collingswood Police Department, and the entire team of CIT trainers. They were all very gracious with their time, information and spirit. We certainly have a head start in developing our CIT in Bucks County with the help of NJ. Finally, the Crisis Intervention Team training gave us confidence that we in Bucks County are working toward bringing a program that will protect those who can not protect themselves. I will wear the Crisis Intervention Team pin with honor. THANK YOU, CHIEF GARRITY! CIT – “it’s more than just training.” Major Sam Cochran, (Retired) Memphis Police Department
Carol Meholic, Member Note: Six additional members of the Bucks Co. CIT Task Force completed the 40 hr Camden County training, including 2 Northampton Township Police Dept. officers, one NAMI member, 2 Bensalem Township Police Dept. officers; and a Bucks County MH executive. Additionally, 2 more Task Force members completed the Philadelphia training. Another completed the 40 hr training in Johnstown PA with the Laurel Highlands Regional CIT. Goal is for all Task Force members to be CIT certified . Bucks County group traveled to Memphis in July 2008 to meet with developers of the Memphis Model of CIT. We spent 2 days in orientation training and riding with CIT officers on their shifts to see firsthand the demonstration of skills in practice. (story below) The group includes 2 Bensalem police officers, representatives of Bucks Co Behavioral Health Service, Lenape Valley Foundation and NAMI Bucks members and representatives. They are pictured here with Major Sam Cochran (back row, right) and 4 Memphis police officers Bucks County goes to Memphis posted August 28, 2008 In mid-July 2008, eight representatives of Bucks County’s CIT Task Force traveled to Memphis to study the Crisis Intervention Team on-site with the originators and developers of the Memphis Model of CIT Training. We spent 2 schedule-packed days meeting with Major Sam Cochran of the Memphis Police Department and Dr. Randolph Dupont of the University of Memphis Criminal Justice Dept., riding with CIT officers, learning about less-than-lethal weapons, and discussing particulars with relation to adapting the training program to Bucks County. We visited “The Med”, the medical center where police drop off people in crisis for evaluation. Coincidentally, the crisis center is managed by a former Bucks County resident. Major Cochran and Dr. Dupont are renowned experts in police training and have hosted groups from as far away as Australia and Israel to assist communities in setting up their training. They developed the Memphis Model of CIT training over 20 years ago. As part of our 2 day orientation, we met with CIT- trained Memphis police officers. Each of us rode with a CIT officer on his/ her full shift This enabled us to view firsthand the methods they have at their disposal when responding to a call involving a person with mental illness. Specially trained 911 dispatchers identify the call and track the nearest CIT officer who, upon arriving at the scene, takes the lead in handling the situation. An incident which resolved safely involved a 60-year old resident of a group home who had become upset and was creating a disturbance, shouting profanities and banging on furnishings. The manager of the group home, unable to calm the resident, called for a CIT officer who arrived with one of our Bucks County NAMI group. It was thought that there may have been alteration of medication dosing. The responding CIT officer then transported the individual to the Med, which is Memphis’ Crisis Center for evaluation. Had the crisis gotten out of hand, the CIT officer was fully prepared to de-escalate the situation. Transporting an individual in crisis is a key component of the CIT. It is key to have an option for an officer to allow him/her to return to patrol quickly rather than spend hours in an Emergency Room waiting for evaluation with the individual. Another of our group rode with a female CIT officer who paid a visit to a group home where the residents greeted her by name and seemed genuinely pleased to see us. The officer knows each resident’s name and history. They enjoyed the attention and interruption of their otherwise routine day. It often evolves that officers who are part of the CIT become advocates for those with mental illness. It has been reported on occasion that the subject of a call does not wish to speak to anyone other than a CIT officer. They know they will be treated with dignity and respect, and most important, that they will be understood. CIT Training is a law enforcement based program which provides advanced specialized training to uniformed police officers about mental illness and critical crisis de-escalation skills to resolve a crisis safely when a person with mental illness is involved. Based upon a 40- hour program developed in Memphis after an individual with mental illness was shot and killed by police, it is designated “Best Practice” by the U.S. Dept of Justice. Police officers typically receive several hours of mental illness training as part of their recruit training program. However, due to the increasing frequency of these incidents, a more in-depth background in mental illness is becoming a necessary tool for officers to resolve a crisis safely. Additionally, the goal of CIT training is to have officers assist in transporting an individual to appropriate drop-off evaluation/ treatment facilities rather than arrest and incarcerate the subject. The prisons and jails in this country have become housing facilities for people with mental illness, resulting in overcrowding of these institutions. Often people incarcerated for a minor offense or for causing a disturbance are confused, frightened and do not improve during their imprisonment. We returned with enough information and tools to begin planning a CIT program to offer to police here in Bucks County. The training is voluntary and not every officer may be suited. They undergo a screening process when they apply. The next step is to have the members of the task force attend the full 40-hour training to gain insight into our own planning process. County Behavioral Health and hospital officials are in planning stages to have a crisis triage center set up to streamline crisis response. A mobile crisis team is in the works with case managers to work with police in response to mental health crisis calls. CIT is not a panacea, but it represents a sincere effort to improve the system here. Our family members and loved ones will not need to fear encounters with police any longer, and police officers will be safer and will feel more confident and capable of handling these incidents once this program has been put in place. For more information, please call our office at 215-442-5637 or see our website http://namibucks.org/CrisisInterventionTeamTraining.htm _______________________________________ NAMI and Bucks Officials Visit Camden County NJ CIT posted March 2008 In March, a group of Bucks County officials accompanied members of the CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) Workgroup to Camden County, NJ to study the CIT system which has been in effect there since Fall 2007. The trip afforded members of the group an opportunity to see firsthand the Crisis Response Center operated by Steininger Behavioral Care Services of Cherry Hill. The Center provides a place where police officers can bring individuals in crisis and, after filling out some paperwork, return to their patrols in short order, leaving the individual in the care of mental health professionals. The CIT workgroup has been advocating for a program of this type in Bucks Co. as one means to reduce arrest and incarceration of individuals with mental illness. This would result in them getting the treatment that can help, rather than entering the criminal justice system, which often results in a downward spiral for these individuals.
Bucks Co officials and NAMI members with Chief Garrity and Loyal Ownes, Dir., Crisis Response Center. The purpose of the trip was to meet with officials in Camden County to learn how the system was implemented there, with an eye toward improving the crisis services here in Bucks County. The group, which included representatives of the Office of Bucks County Commissioners, the Dept. of Corrections; Bucks Co. MH/MR; Behavioral Health; Adult Probation and Parole; Voice and Vision, and law enforcement, met with Collingswood Police Department’s Chief Thomas Garrity who explained the philosophy of CIT as based on the premise that all people deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, regardless of their illnesses. Bucks Co law enforcement officers have been understandably frustrated by the lengthy waits that can sometimes be involved in their attending individuals in Crisis Centers and Emergency Rooms through the medical and psychiatric evaluation process. An officer can spend an average of 4 hours waiting with an individual for such evaluations. The wait time is a crucial point in their decision whether to bring the individual in for possible treatment or to take them to jail. All too often, with the need to return to their patrol responsibilities in a timely fashion, police interactions result in the individual being arrested and incarcerated for a minor offense. The Collingswood Police Dept is the first in the state of NJ to implement CIT training based on the proven Memphis program which was developed in 1988. Chief Garrity is an enthusiastic proponent of CIT but, in his words, this has not always been the case. According to Chief Garrity, his trip to Memphis TN to examine the way the model works brought about a change of heart in the chief, who has been in law enforcement over 20 years. Previously, he handled calls involving a person with mental illness in as humane and understanding a way as possible, however he was hampered by lack of advanced specialized training on mental illness. Collingswood’s 21 trained officers now can employ advanced skills in de-escalating situations that previously had the potential to become incidents ending in arrest, and sometimes injury to the individual or the officer. Law enforcement will continue to be the first responding ‘care-givers’ to the scene of persons in crisis. Not every officer is suited to take the training and history shows that those who volunteer are the most successful. In any call involving a person with mental illness, the CIT officer, identified by a special “CIT” lapel pin, is dispatched immediately, and upon arrival, takes the lead in handling the incident. Officers are advised to arrive without lights and sirens both of which can be terrifying to an individual in crisis. Also to introduce themselves as a CIT officer, keep their hands out in front of them, speak softly, obtain the person’s name, name of their doctor, if any, and types of medications they may be taking. The object is to de-escalate the situation. Police officers are trained to take control of a situation and do so with force, if needed. This does not work when the individual has a mental illness. 20 years of CIT history have developed proven methods that often resolve an incident at the point of origin, necessitating neither arrest nor treatment. However, when treatment or an evaluation is called for, a crisis response center must be available for police to ‘drop-off’ the person, provided there is no aggressive or violent behavior. NAMI is pleased to note that serious consideration is being given to steps needed to provide such a drop-off center here in Bucks County. CIT may not be a panacea, but it is a vital step in the decriminalization effort. The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program is a model program that has been implemented in numerous communities, large and small, across the country. This program involves: (1) special law enforcement training, (2) special dispatch procedures, (3) the availability of appropriate, timely, and law enforcement-friendly acute crisis care alternatives to jail, and (4) effective aftercare and follow-up. The National Alliance on Mental Illness established as part of its policy a strategy of “adopting programs such as the Memphis Police Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Program.” It is encouraging that about 500 police departments nationwide have implemented the Memphis Model CIT program. . The CIT program is a community effort, enjoining both the police and the community together for common goals of safety, understanding and service to those with mental illness and their families. It has been hailed by the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Dept of Justice as "Best Practice." Bucks County deserves the best! For more information on the CIT effort see our website http://namibucks.org/CrisisInterventionTraining.htm or call our office 215-442-5637. |
|
Search this website |
