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Successful Encounters with Mentally
Ill
Emotionally disturbed persons are a law enforcement problem. Law enforcement
officers sworn to protect and serve them, which sometimes means taking them
into custody for their own protection. Law enforcement officers must also
deal with people who are mentally ill who commit crimes, including bank
robbery, arson, child abuse and attacks on peace officers. Law enforcement
officers must learn how to win encounters with emotionally disturbed
persons, which means ensuring that the subject is taken into custody safely.
Training Goals and Objectives
The goal of the training program is to prepare the sworn law enforcement to
do the following: recognize the symptoms of different types of mental
illness; learn guidelines for contact with mentally ill people; understand
words and phrases and principles of active listening; familiarize with the
“Suicide-by-Cop” phenomenon and its implications for law enforcement
officers; properly document (report writing) encounters with mentally ill
people; manage encounters with persons in a state of excited delirium or
cocaine psychosis; identify the symptoms of a potential victim of sudden
custody death syndrome; 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 emotionally disturbed person’s needs, while
providing information geared toward officer 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.
The course is designed as a two-day course. The course is designed to be
conducted from 0800 to 1600 hours daily.
Daily content and course schedule/agenda:
Day One:
Introduction to mental illness
Recognition of different types of mental illness
Guidelines for contact with mentally ill people
Understand words and phrases and principles of active listening
Winning encounters with the mentally ill (officer safety)
The “Suicide-by-Cop” phenomenon and its implications for police officers
Documentation (report writing) on encounters with mentally ill people
Day Two:
Managing encounters with persons in a state of excited delirium
How to identify the symptoms of a potential victim of sudden custody death
syndrome
Use of the hobble restraint, an alternative to the dangerous “hog-tie”
method
There are no pre–requisites to this course.
Student 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, audio or marker board materials, and an area (either grass
or gym mats) where officers can practice use of the SWARM technique and use
of the hobble restraint.
Student Materials
Student materials will involve copies of the handout “Successful
Encounters with the Mentally Ill.”
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.
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