{"id":389,"date":"2017-12-12T05:54:39","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T10:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/?p=389"},"modified":"2017-12-13T12:58:13","modified_gmt":"2017-12-13T17:58:13","slug":"increasing-education-for-police-officers-in-crisis-intervention-how-boston-universitys-criminal-justice-department-can-help-in-training-the-next-generation-of-police-officers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/2017\/12\/12\/increasing-education-for-police-officers-in-crisis-intervention-how-boston-universitys-criminal-justice-department-can-help-in-training-the-next-generation-of-police-officers\/","title":{"rendered":"Increasing Education for Police Officers in Crisis Intervention; How Boston University\u2019s Criminal Justice Department Can Help in Training the Next Generation of Police Officers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cTo protect and serve\u201d.\u00a0 That is a common motto among law enforcement officers.\u00a0 But as Americans have watched the news in the past few years, people have realized that this motto is not as simple as it appears to be.\u00a0 On many calls, a law enforcement officer will protect<\/em> the community by responding to radio calls, establishing probable cause, and arresting offenders when probable cause exists.\u00a0 They serve<\/em> the community by resolving disputes and keeping noise down.\u00a0 But what about the cases in the middle?\u00a0 What about the grey-area cases where an officer has a split-second decision to decide if an individual is suffering from a mental health emergency?\u00a0 In these cases, the law enforcement officer must put aside the motto of protect and serve.\u00a0 He must revert to his academy training, draw down on the offender, give repeated orders, and if the offender does not comply, he must do the unthinkable.<\/p>\n

An example of a grey case would be the recent death of a Georgia Tech student.\u00a0 On September 16, 2017, someone called 9-1-1 to report a man with a gun and a knife (Brumback, 2017).\u00a0 The caller, Scout Schultz, was a student at Georgia Tech and had attempted suicide before.\u00a0 Upon arrival, officers met with Schultz, who, after repeated orders, refused to drop the object that was in his hand.\u00a0 Instead, he walked toward officers with the silver object in his hand and shouted, \u201cshoot me!\u201d\u00a0 Shortly after this exclamation, Schultz was shot by a Georgia Tech police officer.<\/p>\n

The police officer who shot Schultz was later identified as Officer Tyler Beck (Boone, 2016).\u00a0 Beck was hired in 2016 and had only eighteen months on the job.\u00a0 He was placed on paid leave.\u00a0 After the shooting, many people asked whether it was necessary. \u00a0One of the biggest critics of the incident was Schultz\u2019s parents.\u00a0 The family attorney has implied that the shooting was unnecessary since the area was contained and since no one else was at risk.<\/p>\n

Another issue that can be noted about this shooting is the fact that Officer Beck had not received Crisis Intervention Training (CIT).\u00a0 CIT programs enhance communication and identify mental health resources for assisting people in crisis.\u00a0 CIT also improves officer safety, minimizes time spent at a call, and reduces the number of re-arrests of people with mental illness.<\/p>\n

The original CIT program began in Memphis, Tennessee after a man with a history of mental illness and substance abuse problems was shot and killed by a Memphis police officer (Dupont & Cochran, 2000).\u00a0 After that shooting, the Memphis Police Department came together with the University of Memphis and the National Alliance on Mental Illness to develop a Crisis Intervention program.\u00a0 The coalition embarked on a great challenge because of the way law enforcement officers are trained. \u00a0Police academies train recruits to identify defiance and overcome that defiance with greater force.\u00a0 They don\u2019t train officers to differentiate between a person who is willfully defiant or a person whose defiance may be a sign of a mental health emergency.\u00a0 By decreasing the number of individuals with mental illness who are incarcerated and training law enforcement officers in effective response strategies, the University of Memphis and the Memphis Police Department\u2019s coalition has been a huge success.<\/p>\n

As a graduate student, I have learned a tremendous amount of information that will continue to contribute to the way I respond to various calls.\u00a0 Prior to taking Forensic Behavior Analysis, I didn\u2019t know the difference between psychopathy and schizophrenia.\u00a0 This is frightening because the community that I serve would have expected me to respond to an individual in crisis and I wouldn\u2019t have known how to identify what was happening.\u00a0 Boston University has provided me with an incredible amount of background knowledge that I can use to do my job.\u00a0 However, I would like my school to take one step further.<\/p>\n

I would like to see the Metropolitan College to introduce a certificate program for individuals in crisis intervention.\u00a0 A certificate from such a prestigious institution would encourage law enforcement officers of all types to educate themselves on dealing with individuals who may be suffering from a mental health crisis.\u00a0 Just as certificate programs are provided for people who have taken specific coursework in cybercrime and management, I hope that someday one will be available for those who are interested in advancing their careers in Crisis Intervention and Trauma.<\/p>\n

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REFERENCES<\/p>\n

Boone, Christian (September 17, 2017).\u00a0 \u201cBREAKING: Listen to the 911 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0call in Georgia Tech\u00a0shooting\u201d.\u00a0 Atlanta Journal-Constitution.\u00a0 Retrieved December 10, 2017.<\/p>\n

Brumback, Kate (September 18, 2017).\u00a0 \u201c911 call about suspicious man was made by Georgia Tech student killed by police, officials say\u201d.<\/p>\n

Deane MW, Steadman HJ, Borum R, Veysey B, Morrissey J.\u00a0 Emerging partnerships between \u00a0mental health and law enforcement.\u00a0 Psychiatric Services.\u00a0 1999; 50(1):99-101.<\/p>\n

Dupont R. and Cochran S.\u00a0 Police response to mental health emergencies \u2013 Barriers to change.<\/p>\n

The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.\u00a0 2000; 28(3):338-344.<\/p>\n

\u201cGeorgia Tech police shoot LGBTQ student dead\u201d.\u00a0 The Guardian.\u00a0 September 18, 2017.\u00a0Retrieved December 10, 2017.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cTo protect and serve\u201d.\u00a0 That is a common motto among law enforcement officers.\u00a0 But as Americans have watched the news in the past few years, people have realized that this motto is not as simple as it appears to be.\u00a0 On many calls, a law enforcement officer will protect the community by responding to radio […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14283,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14283"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":391,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389\/revisions\/391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}