1. Interacting with Persons
Who May Have
Mental Health Issues

2. Law Enforcement Liaisons
Our Goal
Law Enforcement Liaisons M
Our Mission
Improve knowledge base and skills of officers dealing with mentally ill people in crisis G
Build bridges between mental health and law enforcement

3. Is It a Police Emergency?
911 is your best friend!
Some of the information needed:
Who you are
Where you are
Nature of the call
Description of the party
What the party is doing/saying/telling you
Any weapons involved
Anyone injured
Call-back number

4. The Fact and Fiction of Mental Illness
What Some Believe…
The Fact is…
They must be cared for; can’t make their own decisions
They are capable and have a right to make their own decisions
They are less intelligent
No, it is the symptoms of mental illness
They are resistant to treatment and difficult
to engage
No, the needs of the mentally ill are just more complex

5. The Fact and Fiction of Mental Illness
What Some Believe…
The Fact is…
Mental illness is a life-long disease with no cure
Recovery possible; they can and do lead productive lives
Studies have shown only a weak association between mental illness and violence
However there is an increased risk when alcohol or drug use is involved
People with mental illness are more prone to violent acts

6. Communication: Your Most Effective Tool
7% of communication is verbal
93% of communication is not communicated by spoken words
When communicating always keep this in mind:
Sometimes it is not about the words but how you
say the words…
Your posture, your mannerisms
The words themselves

7. If You Can Slow the Event Down…
Time can be your friend. It may:
Help reduce stress and anxiety
Increase rationality
Decrease emotions
Person may “surrender”
Allow you to gain more information to better enable responding law enforcement and EMS personnel to do their job

8. Regarding Your Interactions
Attempt to get the individual talking so that you can fully understand why they are angry
Think about using verbal pacing techniques…
Sensory: “I sense you are angry”
Visual: “I see that you need help”
Auditory: “I hear what you are saying”

9. Diffusion Strategies Appear confident Display calmness
Create some space
Speak slowly, gently and clearly
Lower your voice
Indicate a willingness to understand and help
Show that you are listening

10. Interactions & Problem Solving
If you see
this…
What might help…
Ask the person to slow down
Don’t demand answers
Give the person enough personal space
Reassure person there is time to sort the situation out
Can you remove the source of agitation/anxiety?
Anxiety/
Agitation
Aggressive/
Inappropriate
Behavior
Set limits on behavior
Be aware of threatening statements and take them seriously

11. Interactions & Problem Solving
If you see this…
What might help…
Hallucinations
Delusions
Do not argue with hallucinations or delusions
Accept that this is what the person believes or perceives
Loss of Contact
w/Reality
Support reality based statements
Do not encourage statements that are not real
Be careful with use of touch
Slow Response
Allow person to formulate a response
Be patient

12. Interactions & Problem Solving
If you see
this…
What might help…
Difficulty
Establishing
Directed
Activity
Make expectations clear and concise
Help person identify meaningful tasks and break these down into doable tasks
Difficulty
Making
Decisions
Limit number of decisions to be made
Take a directive stance that relate to a person’s safety
Exaggerated
Response
Use clear concise questions and statements

13. Avoid Doing These Things
Express anger/irritation or shout
Mislead person
Assume they cannot hear you
Use inflammatory language
Force discussions
Move suddenly
Challenge delusions/hallucinations
Be very careful w/ your use of touch
It is NOT personal
Animated bending process SmartArt graphic
(Intermediate)
To reproduce the SmartArt effects on this slide, do the following:
Select the graphic, and then click one of the arrows on the left border. In the Type your text here dialog box, enter text.
On the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click SmartArt. In the Choose a SmartArt Graphic dialog box, in the left pane, click Process. In the Process pane, click Vertical Bending Process, and then click OK to insert the graphic into the slide.
On the Home tab, in the Slides group, click Layout, and then click Blank.
On the slide, select the graphic. Under SmartArt Tools, on the Design tab, in the SmartArt Styles group, do the following:
Click More, and then under 3-D click Polished (first option from the left).
Click Change Colors, and then under Accent 1 click Colored Fill – Accent 1 (second option from the left).
Select the top left shape (starting point) in the graphic, and then do the following:
On the Home tab, in the Font group, select Gill Sans MT from the Font list, and then select 24 from the Font Size list.
Under SmartArt Tools, on the Format tab, in the Shapes group, click Change Shape, and then under Flowchart click Flowchart: Off-page Connector (second row, second option from the left).
Under SmartArt Tools, on the Format tab, in the Shape Styles group, click the arrow next to Shape Fill, and then under Theme Colors click Olive Green, Accent 3, Darker 25% (fifth row, seventh option from the left).
Select the bottom right shape (ending point) in the graphic, and then do the following:
Under SmartArt Tools, on the Format tab, in the Shapes group, click Change Shape, and then under Basic Shapes click Hexagon (first row, eighth option from the left).
Under SmartArt Tools, on the Format tab, in the Shape Styles group, click the arrow next to Shape Fill, and then under Theme Colors click Red, Accent 2, Darker 25% (fifth row, sixth option from the left).
To reproduce the animation effects on this slide, do the following:
Also on the Animations tab, in the Timing group, in the Duration box enter 1.00 second.
On the slide, select the graphic. On the Animations tab, in the Advanced Animation group, click Add Animation, and then under Entrance click Fade.
In the Animation Pane, select the fade effect. Click the arrow to the right of the fade effect, and then click Effect Options. In the Fade dialog box, on the SmartArt Animation tab, in the Group graphic list, select One by one, and then click OK.
Also on the Animations tab, in the Advanced Animation group, click Animation Pane.
In the Animation Pane, press and hold CTRL, select the first, third, fifth, seventh, ninth, 11th, 13th, 15th, and 17th animation effects (fade effects for the rectangles).
Also in the Animation Pane, click the double arrow under the fade effect to expand the contents of the list of effects.
On the Animations tab, in the Animation group, click More, and then under Entrance click Wipe.
Also on the Animations tab, in the Timing group, do the following:
In the Start list, select With Previous.
In the Duration box, enter 1.00 seconds.
In the Animation Pane, press and hold CTRL, and then select the first, third, fifth, 15th, and 17th animation effects (stretch effects for the first, second, third, eighth, and ninth rectangles in the path). On the Animations tab, in the Animation group, click Effect Options, and then click From Top.
In the Animation Pane, press and hold CTRL, and then select the seventh and 13th animation effects (stretch effects for the fourth and seventh rectangles in the path). On the Animations tab, in the Animation group, click Effect Options, and then click From Left.
In the Animation Pane, press and hold CTRL, and then select the ninth and 11th animation effects (stretch effects for the fifth and sixth rectangles in the path). On the Animations tab, in the Animation group, click Effect Options, and then click From Bottom.
In the Animation Pane, press and hold CTRL, and then select the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, 10th, 12th, 14th, and 16th animation effects (fade effects for the connectors). On the Animations tab, in the Timing group, in the Start list select After Previous.
In the Animation Pane, select the eighth animation effect (fade effect for the connector between the fourth and fifth rectangle). Click the arrow to the right of the eighth animation effect, and then click Timing. In the Fade dialog box, on the Timing tab, in the Delay box, enter 0.5, and then click OK.
In the Animation Pane, select the 10th animation effect (fade effect for the connector between the fifth and sixth rectangle). Click the arrow to the right of the 10th animation effect, and then click Timing. In the Fade dialog box, on the Timing tab, in the Delay box, enter 0.5, and then click OK.
To reproduce the background effects on this slide, do the following:
Right-click the slide background area, and then click Format Background. In the Format Background dialog box, click Fill in the left pane, select Gradient fill in the Fill pane, and then do the following:
Under Gradient stops, click Add gradient stop or Remove gradient stop until two stops appear in the slider.
In the Direction list, click Linear Down (first row, second option from the left).
In the Type list, select Linear.
Also under Gradient stops, customize the gradient stops that you added as follows:
Select the first stop in the slider, and then do the following:
In the Position box, enter 0%.
Select the last stop in the slider, and then do the following:
Click the button next to Color, and then under Theme Colors click Blue, Accent 1, Darker 25% (fifth row, fifth option from the left).
Click the button next to Color, and then under Theme Colors click Black, Text 1 (first row, second option from the left).
In the Position box, enter 71%.

14. Rules for Personal Safety
Protect yourself with distance, avoid being surrounded and maintain an open line of flight
Never physically engage the person you are confronting
Never argue with an intoxicated person - it may lead to a physical confrontation
Never agree to meet the intoxicated person elsewhere or outside
If your physical safety is threatened, call for assistance

15. If I think it is a person with mental health issues…
…would the situation best be resolved with police assistance?
For Emergencies call 911
Non-Emergencies use police business line
If I think it is a person with
mental health issues…