Wide range of services fall to members of law enforcement
Marysville Police Chief Floyd Golden describes the role of an officer by recounting a portion of a poem.
“The policeman must be a minister, social worker, a diplomat, a tough guy and a gentleman,” the poem read.
Golden doesn’t know who wrote the poem, but believes it encapsulates what a modern day officer should strive to be.
“A lot of those things still kind of fit,” he said.
While some might view officers or deputies as uniformed officials who simply arrive and arrest, local officials opt for a more community-minded approach. The goal is de-escalation, rather than simply forcing a possibly mentally ill subject to comply.
At least locally, that change has only been in the past couple decades. Deputy Chief Tony Brooks said when he attended academy in 1997, de-escalation-based curriculum was limited. In the old days, he said officers were taught the “pink slip” system. Officers would sign paperwork, or a “pink slip,” after non-consensual transportations.
“Somebody has mental issues, you throw cuffs on them as best you can, you get them to the hospital, you say whatever, you sign the pink slip and then turn them over to the healthcare providers,” Brooks said. “We want them to go there because they want to go there and want the help. So if it takes us an hour to talk them through going to the hospital … I’d (rather) do that than spend a half hour and end up wrestling somebody.”
Both the Marysville Police Department and Union County Sheriff’s Office put officers through a week-long Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training. This program, in conjunction with Maryhaven, involves scenarios that help officers recognize when people are in crisis.
“It kind of teaches officers some techniques and some skills to be able to do their jobs and interact with these folks and get them the help that they need,” said Deputy Chief Tony Brooks.
Many of the scenarios officers go through are based off actual experiences. Maryhaven brings in counselors to act out these situations. In some cases, people who have been in real crises are brought in to participate.
“There are a lot of things different, there are a lot of things the same,” Golden said. “They can experience someone who may have that happen to them. They want to put these officers through a true crisis (situation).”
Union County Sheriff Jamie Patton said agencies in the county have received the training as well. Golden mirrored that statement, saying when officers encounter someone seemingly mentally ill or in a crisis, “it’s not a race.”
Golden said in the past, there was a much larger chance for both parties to get hurt.
“You’d get someone with a mental illness and right away two or three big policemen go a grab him and handcuff him,” he said. “Any time you get into a physical confrontation with somebody, or somebody who’s resisting arrest, somebody’s going to get hurt.”
Golden emphasized “there’s no deadline for it.” According to him, there’s always a chance for an officer to get hurt.
He said if an officer can get things to a calmer point, he or she should take that time.
Brooks said at the same time, officers aren’t going to take any unnecessary chances. He said officers understand the job they chose is dangerous.
“You kind of have to marry those two together and have some kind of a balance with that,” he said.
Patton agreed, saying the situation could call for a variety of roles.
(Deputies) may have to be a father figure, they may have to be a counselor, or they may have to be that authority figure,” he said.
Regardless, officials said if you can talk someone down, the chance of any injuries goes down dramatically. Marysville Police sends at least two officers for a mental health call, and no two are different.
“Everyone is different,” Brooks said. “Some are claiming they just want to harm themselves, others may make that claim to a third party and then deny that when you get there. Others may be in total crisis when you get there, and it may be something where you’re just trying to de-escalate them down enough to get them to some kind of safe place.”
Golden said after that, the department’s next goal isn’t to put somebody in jail, but to get them help.
“Most of the time we get them transported to Memorial Hospital, and then they’re evaluated by Maryhaven,” Golden said.
Patton said he looks at his office’s relationship with the community like a bank, where deputies and officers should continually invest in the community. He said at some point, the community is going to take a withdrawal, and if a department has invested enough, they’ll be able to survive.
If some sort of unintended death occurs, public trust can be kept as long as the agency is actually part of a community.
“The agency can withstand that tragedy,” he said.