Eau Claire (WQOW) - Law enforcement training is critical
to response to or in some cases, prevent tragedies, like the one in Colorado. This week, officers in the Chippewa Valley
were trained in one specific area.
"We're seeing a lot
of mental health cases, and at various levels and at various degrees, and we
need to recognize that," says Eau Claire Police Officer Kyle Roder.
Officers from across the Chippewa Valley spent the week learning how to
handle situations that involve people who may have mental health issues, like
depression, psychosis, or schizophrenia.
"Normal police
training can quickly escalate, and in the past it's been proven that people
have been injured and killed because of a miscommunication and a
misunderstanding that this is a medical and mental health problem, not typical
criminal misbehavior," says Minneapolis Police Sergeant Steve Wickelgren, who
is also the Clinical Director for the Minnesota Crisis Intervention Team.
Actors from the Twin Cities were
brought in, so officers could put their training to use.
In Officer Bridget Coit's scenario,
someone with psychosis was threatening to light himself on fire.
"Being direct is
working. He is talking to me, and establishing rapport and giving me eye
contact, so getting down to his level is good and it's working," says Officer
Bridget Coit.
"Communication is
key, because a lot of times we can diffuse the situation just by talking to the
people," says Officer Roder.
And it's also important how
investigators communicate.
"We can't ask them
to calm down or stop feeling the pain...we understand that these are the
symptoms, and that that needs medical attention and medication for those
symptoms to go away, not someone telling you to do so," Wickelgren says.
Instead, officers are taught to work
and communicate about feelings, because someone with depression may not be
thinking clearly. All of these tools can
help resolve situations safely and effectively.
"I think, just
understanding that some of the criminal issues that we are seeing are more
mental health related instead of just criminal in nature," Officer Coit says.
This training, which involved law
enforcement agencies from across the area, was paid for by a grant.
