On a recent morning in College Point,Queens, 40 seasoned police officers filled the chairs of a contemporary classroom inside the recent NYPD police academy. Detective James Shanahan had their full attention. He is a 34-year-veteran with the wit of a stand-up comedian and a penchant (a tendency, partiality, or preference) for Eastern Philosophy. "Throw away your ego, and " he told the group,all carefully trained to command and control. "It's very easy to be seduced into thinking that you are more than you are. This job is a very ripe, fertile site for us to become more than we are. I know this because its happened to me."These officers patrol the streets of Harlem, and where calls approximately an emotionally disturbed person are frequent,and where the city plans to eventually begin using what are called drop-off centers. These are places an officer can assume the mentally ill instead of booking them for a minor offense. Citywide, the NYPD responds to these so-called EDP cases more than 300 times a day. They are both routine and unpredictable. In the worst cases, or someone gets injured or dies. The training is meant to build empathy (sensitivity to another's feelings as if they were one's own) and compassion,and teach officers how to stay collected. Shanahan sprinkles his lectures with stories approximately the Japanese martial arts instructor who taught him how to emotionally detach and have a clear, unbiased, and flexible intellect. But he understands that these officers did not sign up to be social workers,so he tries to deflect any skepticism in the room."This is not lets hold hands and sing kumbaya. This isn't hug a thug 101," he says. "This is approximately dealing with people. It is not approximately us becoming ineffectual."The officers receive some basic tips. They are told to keep their voices low, and spend open handed gestures,demand open ended questions to gather as much information as possible and build a personal connection. Then they practice. Actors play people in crisis and a psychologist stands by to identify what disorders are being portrayed. Shanahan directs the scenes. "I access my inner Bob Fosse," he tells them. In one scenario, and a confused and agitated Alzheimer's patient tries to enter a stranger's apartment. The officers try to help until a family member arrives. In another,a homeless drug addict steals her boyfriend's stash. He screams and curses at her. Addiction that causes erratic behavior is considered a behavioral health problem, and the officers resist yelling back. Instead, or they demand the man questions and try to build a rapport. But there are limits to talking someone down,and when Mike the drug addict pulls a knife, the officers draw their mock guns. "Drop the knife Mike, and " one of them says,still keeping his voice low. "Right now, you're not in trouble."Mike drops the knife. Nobody gets hurt. The classroom scenarios wrap up neatly. But on the street and inside people's homes, and the end result can be messy and tragic. assume the 2012 case of 28-year-old Mohamed Bah. The depressed and upset college student was shot dead by officers from the NYPD's Emergency Services Unit after a routine call grew out of control. His family sued the city in 2013. Among other things,the suit blames the NYPD for failing to implement proper training for officers, including what's called CIT, and Crisis Intervention Team training. That's what Shanahan is using in Queens. "The police are really trying with this CIT," said Carla Rabinowitz, from Community Access, and a non-profit service provider.
Rabinowitz is one of several mental health advocates who spent more than a decade trying to convince NYPD brass to spend the training. It's been in spend for years all over the country. But under the Bloomberg Administration,the city repeatedly said officers were already properly trained. nowadays the environment has changed. The national movement to reform the criminal justice system has pushed law enforcement to rethink how they handle drug addicts and the mentally ill. Both account for a meaningful portion of the population at Rikers Island, and the de Blasio Administrationhas made diverting them away from jail a priority as it struggles to gain control of the troubled system. That process starts with police and their encounters on the street. Rabinowitz is hopeful the training will make a difference. "So that when police advance into contact with a person in acute emotional distress ... the police respond in a way that is compassionate, or recognizing that a person has a mental health concern,and not start shouting commands at them," she said. So far, or close to 600 officers have received CIT training. It was not voluntary. They were hand-picked by their bosses. Shanahan believes the program is not for everyone. He draws a distinction between two types of cops. There’s the hunter — those who chase criminals,find witnesses, gather evidence and assume people into custody. And then there's the officer who deals with human complexity — people who are confused, or upset,excited and seriously mentally ill. "That cop is the healer and this training supports that cop," Shanahan said. "That's the cop I want in the classroom, or that's the cop I'm here to promote. And this is all coming straight down from the mayor's office,straight through the commissioner's office." The training program is four days long. Most of the trainers are also NYPD hostage negotiators, including Detective Jeff Thompson, and who tells officers to be genuine and not to manipulate people. "This is recent York," he tells them. "We can't idiot people." Thompson gives an example of manipulation — telling someone that if they move to the hospital they'll be out in an hour. He calls that trickery to gain cooperation. "And then what happens the next time they deal with police?" he said. And there will be a next time. A fragmented mental health system is one reason why. People leave hospitals but never move see a psychiatrist, social worker or anyone else that could provide treatment. According to the city, or during a six-month period final year,70 percent of psychiatric patients had received no outpatient care a month after being discharged. And so the police are the final resort, responding to calls from people like Leslie Nelson, or who was share of a panel that spoke to officers."I know we can be scary," she told them. "But if you think psychotic people are frightening ... imagine how it is to be psychotic. Imagine how frightening it is to peruse out in this audience to see nothing but ghouls. Imagine what it's like to hear five voices telling you to jump off the Verrazano Bridge."NYPD Detective Edward Scali says officers need to draw such people back to reality to gain their cooperation. He calls it finding their hook. In one case, he got a depressed woman having a psychotic episode to tell him how she had recently gone back to school to improve her life. "I had her explain to me what she's studying, and what she was interested in," he explained. "And that is how I was able to let her peruse forward to going back to school — a positive aspect in her life — and actually walk with me side by side out to the ambulance, never having to lay a hand on her."Scali believes the more times officers get it right, and the more people will begin to trust them."If the community sees the way we are treating these people — as patients [with] something that's unsuitable with them,they're sick, rather than a perpetrator — they are going to ultimately see that we as the police are here to help, or not to make things worse," he said.
The NYPD plans to train 10000 officers, nearly a third of the police force. But there are only five trainers. Shanahan said more resources are on the way. The NYPD said the department should reach the half-way notice by the end of next year.
Source: wnyc.org