Excited Delirium and In-Custody Deaths

Law enforcement officers must learn to deal safely and effectively with people in a state of excited delirium. This course will give you the tools to save yourself, protect the suspect, and save your department from the liability associated with an in-custody death.

Training Goals and Objectives

Its 2 a.m. and 42 degrees out. You get the call over the radio: naked man running down the street. You chuckle to yourself and take the call. Unfortunately, it is no laughing matter. This is one of the classic warning signs of a call that involves a person in a state of excited delirium. He or she is a potentially dead prisoner. What you are faced with is one of the most volatile, life-threatening (yours and that of the suspect) calls in law enforcement today, one that could change your whole career.

The goal of the training program is to prepare the sworn law enforcement to do the following: recognize the symptoms of excited delirium, cocaine psychosis; learn guidelines and winning tactics for contact with people in a state of excited delirium, understand implications of the Taser and its use on people in such a state; familiarize with the “Suicide-by-Cop” phenomenon and its implications for law enforcement officers; properly document (report writing) encounters with people in a state of excited delirium, whether it involves a use of force, or simply taking the person into custody under a mental health act; learn techniques for dealing with a subject in a heightened state of arousal who often possesses “super-human” strength; and properly use the hobble restraint, an alternative to the dangerous “hog-tie” method.

Training Audience, Format, and Content

This course is intended for various levels of experienced sworn law enforcement officers and related personnel. The intent of the trainer is to provide survival tools and recognition techniques so that the student can effectively respond to the needs of a person in a state of excited delirium, while providing information geared toward officer and career survival in these types of encounters.

This course is most successful when taught and received with audiences of 30 officers or fewer. Smaller groups enable officers to have more direct dialog with the instructor and other students, particularly during the practical evaluation (hands-on) process. Numerous police videos will be shown as an aid to the student in recognizing people in state of excited delirium or cocaine psychosis. The course is designed as a two-day course, to be conducted from 0830 to 1630 hours daily.

Daily content and course schedule/agenda: 

 Day One:

  • Introduction to Excited Delirium

  • Recognition of symptoms of excited delirium and cocaine psychosis

  • Winning tactics for contact with people in a state of excited delirium (officer safety)

  • The “Suicide-by-Cop” phenomenon and its implications for police officers

  • Documentation (report writing) on encounters with people in a state of excited delirium

 Day Two:

  • In-Custody Death Syndrome; The Taser and in-custody deaths

  • Tactics for dealing with a subject who exhibits “super-human” strength

  • Use of the hobble restraint, an alternative to the dangerous “hog-tie” method

  • Practical application of take-down techniques and proper use of the hobble restraint system

There are no pre–requisites to this course.

Evaluation

The evaluation process will consist of class participation, active involvement in case reviews and participation in visual recognition exam.

Limitations / Special Needs:  None
 

Any audio/visual or POSTC/Academy facility or staff needs will be addressed on a case-by-case basis, but might include the use of an electronic projection unit, VCR, audio or marker board materials.

 

Student Materials:  None
 

Student materials will involve copies of the training materials “Excited Delirium and In-Custody Death"

 

A wide range of digital video and PowerPoint presentations will be used in the training session, and the instructor will come prepared with everything he will need to make this an informative, fast-paced learning experience.  Detailed lesson plans are available as needed, but copies of the PowerPoint presentations and digital videos cannot be supplied with this document.

 

Evaluations of Past Courses

Evaluations of past presentations are available upon request if this material and telephonic interviews are not satisfactory.  In addition, we are happy to provide the names of references from all across America to assist you in your decision.

 

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