How’s your hand?” Officer Brandon Rathje, a ten-year veteran of the Eugene (Ore.) Police Department (EPD) asked the man sporting long dreads and several layers of mismatched clothing. As their dialogue continued, anyone passing by this street corner downtown would believe they were just witnessing a polite conversation between an officer and a community member. What they wouldn’t realize is the history of tension between the department and this self-appointed homeless advocate who had been leading a protest camp for several months. After a few more pleasant words, both went about their business. Rathje credits his ability to communicate well and avoid unnecessary conflict to his mental health and de-escalation training.
Tactical communication and learning to talk
When officers talk about mental health and de-escalation training, many refer to Crisis Intervention Team (CIT). According to the University of Memphis CIT Center, “CIT officers are recognized to have the empathy and technical skills necessary for the successful resolution of a mental health crisis.” Currently there are 2,645 local programs and 351 regional programs throughout the U.S.
Officer Bo Rankin, a 12-year EPD veteran went through one of EPD’s first CIT trainings in 2009 when it was still voluntary. Rathje, on the other hand, went through when EPD began mandating 100 percent of its officers be CIT trained. “The topic of it just seemed very, very natural,” Rankin explains. “Of course you would approach mental health or severe drug stuff in this manner because it’s going to be far more effective than just trying to muscle your way through it.”
Both say the training changed how they handle mental health situations. “I just remember thinking a lot more about asking questions I wouldn’t have asked before,” Rankin says. Questions like: What’s your history? Are you taking any medications? What are they for? What meds are you supposed to be taking? Rathje says he is more confident going into a variety of situations. “By no means is CIT training going to give us the ability to diagnose somebody, but just having a little bit of background really informs us on how we can approach conversations and it has been fantastic,” he explains.
The heart of de-escalation training is learning to talk. “We do a tactical communications class which is kind of what officers really want,” Rankin says. “What tool can you give me that I can use to talk to people? All this psychological stuff is interesting and resources are great, but give me a tool.” The tactical communication class is taught by another crisis negotiator, but as Rankin has participated in class 12 times, he graduated to teaching the last one. He admits talking to someone with a mental health focus versus using a more direct law enforcement style can be a bit scary. “You’re putting yourself in a more vulnerable conversation which can be nerve-racking,” he admits. “Sometimes it’s exhausting to talk to somebody for even a half hour or an hour who’s in crisis, rather than just throw the handcuffs on and go to jail. We might get there anyway, but it’s nice to get a baseline, make a connection and try to figure out where we can go from here.”
A large part of tactical communication is Active Listening Skills (ALS). “I don’t think anybody has really come up with anything better,” Rankin explains. CIT, as the name describes, is more than just the mental health training — it is a program of partnerships and resources. IACP and CIT International describe CIT as a specialty and that not every officer is cut out to be certified. But every officer can benefit from a shorter, more general training.
The benefit of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training
MHFA is a program of the National Council for Behavioral Health (NCBH). With 3,000 members, NCBH has been facilitating MHFA for more than ten years with 1.5 million people trained in the broad curriculum. More than 200,000 public safety personnel have been trained in MHFA for Public Safety, one of the more general curricula. MHFA is currently working with more than 500 police departments. “CIT training is expert training,” explains Bryan Gibb, NCBH public education director. “Mental Health First Aid is an 8-hour training course. Although they are different curricula, MHFA is kind of a microcosm of the entire week [of CIT] in one day with background, didactic behavior of mental illness, signs and symptoms, tactics, scenario work and resources.” Gibb describes MHFA as a tool that includes de-escalation and awareness but is also designed to reduce stigma, provide education about mental illness and be used as a peer-to-peer wellness tool. “De-escalation training allows sworn officers to respond more appropriately and safely in the community,” says Gibb. “De-escalation tactics can increase officer safety, decrease injury and disability claims, and overall allow public safety staff people to serve and protect more effectively.”
The MHFA for Public Safety course is even more specialized. “Mental Health First Aid generally talks about signs and symptoms of different categories of mental illness, including depression, anxiety, psychosis, substance use disorder and response to trauma,” explains Gibb. “Public Safety covers the same content but the scenarios are specific to public safety situations.” The course has additional tactics and information on topics like PTSD, wellness and excited delirium. “We talk about additional risks for public safety staff members,” Gibb says. “For example, corrections and police have a higher incidence of depression, substance use and suicide risk. Some is demographic, but it also has to do with stress and exposure to trauma. Sometimes that stress isn’t obvious. It’s working nights, shift work and low pay. The life of a police officer itself can be stressful and traumatizing. Part of what we do in our course is talk about those aspects of the life that can build up and how to look for early warning signs and reach out for peer support.”
Along with CIT and crisis negotiation, Rankin has taken the MHFA for Public Safety course. “Some of the basic information is really kind of redundant but it’s the approach to the information that is different,” he explains. “You’re looking at yourself, your coworkers and your family. You’re taking a slightly more open-minded approach. Just trying to say, I see that you’re struggling and how can we get you some help?”
In tandem with Springfield Police Department and Lane County Sheriffs Office, EPD will be rolling out MHFA this month. Rankin thinks it will go well. “In lieu of training everyone on CIT, the best model would be to make everybody do Mental Health First Aid because it’s a good base,” he explains.
IACP agrees, joining with MHFA to establish the “One Mind Pledge.” Departments take the pledge when they commit to training 100 percent of their sworn officers and support staff in MHFA. “The One Mind Pledge includes CIT training as expert and Mental Health First Aid for the balance of the rank and file,” says Gibb. “The best practice, as promulgated by IACP, CIT International and Mental Health First Aid, is to have at least 20 percent of sworn officers CIT and the balance MHFA trained.” Along with CIT and MHFA, other mental health and de-escalation trainings exist including one offered through the Force Science Institute.
Just a fad?
Some officers describe mental illness and de-escalation training as just the latest buzzwords. They worry about departments developing policies and procedures around something that will just fade away. Gibb couldn’t disagree more. “If mental illness is a fad, de-escalation is a fad,” he says. “The absurdity of that statement is the answer. Conservative estimates are that one in four Americans in any given year will experience a mental illness or substance use disorder that will qualify for a diagnosis. Granted not all these individuals interact with the police but the police tend to interact with the most extreme cases. And the most extreme can be dangerous.” He points out that calls involving mental illness are the largest category for most police departments, even more common than domestic violence. “As a society we have determined that training police officers in DV for the safety of all parties is important,” says Gibb. “Certainly mental illness is important as well.”
“I think it should be mandatory training for all officers across the country,” states Rathje. “Having us better informed better prepares us to deal with the stuff that we’re going to deal with out on the street. In my position, downtown in Eugene, the vast majority of contacts I have are someone who is suffering from a mental illness, either currently using or suffering from addiction or some combination thereof. CIT feeds directly into how I’m going to approach those people. I feel like it keeps me safe. It keeps my other officers safe. I think it decreases our incidences of use-of-force which makes sure we all go home at the end of the day.”
Some officers worry that de-escalation training and the corresponding policies and procedures could make officers detrimentally hesitate. “Many, many times in our training we point out that Mental Health First Aid is a tool that officers decide if they want to use or not,” Gibb responds. “The reality is we encourage officers to follow their use-of-force training and if they feel their Mental Health First Aid is appropriate, use it. It doesn’t replace the use-of-force continuum. In many situations, hesitation and time is valuable for protecting life. De-escalation is just another tool like non-lethal means. It doesn’t replace, it just augments.” And it’s here to stay.
“I think a number of people feel like it’s sort of the foo-foo stuff,” says Rathje. “That it’s not traditional police work. You go out there, you write tickets, you make arrests and that’s what you do. I just have to kind of laugh at those guys. I think they’re so far behind the curve. I think today’s police officers have to be smarter. CIT is just such an immense tool that if you use it and you use it well, even moderately well, you’re going to have so much more success.”
About the Author
Michelle Perin has been a freelance writer since 2000. In Dec. 2010, she earned her Master’s degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Indiana State University.
