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Ceremony celebrates mental health awareness

Times-Tribune - 10/8/2016

Oct. 08--Two days after Patrolman Robert Shedlock finished crisis intervention training, the officer got a difficult real-world test when he was called to the home of a man who was drunk, had guns in the house and threatened to take his own life.

Over the next approximately 40 minutes, the Clarks Summit police officer spoke to the man through the window, gradually persuaded him to open up about his problems and convinced the man to go to Geisinger Community Medical Center for a mental health evaluation.

"He told me I was the nicest police officer he ever met," Patrolman Shedlock recalled. "He did not expect the response he got when I came to his house."

The Scranton branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness recognized Patrolman Shedlock with its Crisis Intervention Team Leadership Award during the organization's annual candlelight vigil Friday at Courthouse Square in Scranton.

Since his August 2015 training, the officer said he uses some aspect of it every day, whether that means knowledge about mental health issues, de-escalation techniques or his community contacts.

"In police work, normally we have a command-and-control attitude," he said. "It's a good, safe way to establish order, but when someone is having a mental health crisis, it's not necessarily about establishing order. It's mostly about finding out what it is they need to do."

Last month, the Scranton Police Department reported a 66 percent drop in use of force by police since it established crisis intervention training in 2010.

NAMI also recognized Marissa Bennici with its Candlelight Award for organizing the Kickin' the Stigma Out of Mental Illness Kickball Tournament for the past two years. After the award presentations, about 65 people lit candles and joined in a singalong of "Put a Little Love in Your Heart."

Owen Dougherty, president of the NAMI board, said the vigil is about raising awareness of mental health issues.

"We're trying to learn to help people learn to speak about mental illness, when normally it's something people whisper about," Mr. Dougherty said. "It's not normally spoken about except in the family. We're trying to reduce the stigma that's often associated with mental illness and just trying to get a dialogue going with the community."

Contact the writer:

kwind@timesshamrock.com,

@kwindTT on Twitter

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