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EDITORIAL: Another progressive step helping Janesville police deal with those with mental illness

Janesville Gazette (WI) - 4/9/2016

April 09--"Why on Earth would we want to sit here and wait for that tragic event when we could build a relationship and perhaps avoid that tragic event altogether?"

--Janesville Police Chief Dave Moore

Syndicated columnist Esther Cepeda recently interviewed LaToya Howell, whose 17-year-old son was fatally shot by a Zion, Illinois, police officer last April.

"We shouldn't have to live in fear of our authorities," said Howell, who works with a group raising awareness about the epidemic of police shootings. "We need people to stand up and ask our police to have compassion and proper training in dealing with our youth."

The same goes for dealing with those suffering mental illnesses. Janesville Police Chief Dave Moore is doing just that. One-third of his staff has been trained in crisis intervention. Eventually, all will be.

Reporter Frank Schultz explained the initiative in the March 27 Gazette.

Police learn that certain afflictions trigger resistance in some people, so officers might avoid pulling out handcuffs.

Trained officers understand that those with autism don't like to be touched, so officers might avoid doing so as their first instinct.

Officers also learn, for example, that one local man will calm down if you talk about his hamster.

Schultz described how police responded to a check-welfare request at an apartment in 2011 and found a man covered in blood. They didn't know he had not been taking his schizophrenia medicine. They used Tasers to subdue him, not knowing he had fatally stabbed a neighbor.

Fortunately, officers didn't need to use deadly force. But knowing more about him might have better prepared them.

News of killings by police has become regular nationwide since a Ferguson, Missouri, officer fatally shot a young black man in 2014. Moore pointed out that a Washington Post study found that one-fourth of those killed by police in 2015 suffered from mental illnesses. Most were armed. So Moore asked his officers to identify the biggest threats among those with mental illnesses in Janesville and build relationships with them. That way, in times of need, these people might see an officer as helpful rather than threatening.

Getting around health privacy laws was a problem. But Community Support Program social workers who help those with mental illnesses manage their treatment have gotten about 20 clients to sign waivers so caregivers can share information with police. Police don't know all the medical details but do learn about treatment programs and ideas for handling each person.

The Community Support Program averages 150 clients in northern Rock County. Most have delusions or hear voices but aren't threats to others. If they do become dangers, they're most often to themselves, says Nadine Westby, program supervisor.

"We can be the eyes and ears of the Community Support program as we see mentally ill people headed in the wrong direction," Moore told Schultz. "We could inform them and avoid a tragic situation."

This is another in a long line of progressive programs Moore has adopted since becoming police chief in 2009. A few include:

-- Having an officer track heroin addicts and get them into treatment when they're ready.

-- Compiling a "do not serve" list of habitual drunks for taverns.

-- Sending officers, with YWCA advocates, to revisit victims of domestic violence in efforts to thwart repeat problems.

Moore credits officers who propose and carry out programs, just as he praised those overseeing security and the relative calm March 29 when presidential candidate Donald Trump campaigned in Janesville.

Most of these initiatives are among national trends, Moore says. But Janesville residents should appreciate that instead of being reactive, police are proactively probing root causes of problems in helping keep our community safe.

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(c)2016 The Janesville Gazette (Janesville, Wis.)

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