CIT For Everyone!
- Five years after closing six of the city’s 12 mental health clinics, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is stepping up crisis intervention training for Chicago Police officers and 911 operators to improve the city’s response to emergencies involving people suffering from mental illness.
The police shootings of Laquan McDonald in October 2014 and Quintonio LeGrier and Bettie Jones in December 2015 are only the most recent examples of incidents where deadly consequences might have been avoided if police officers and 911 operators had been better trained, said Alexa James, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Chicago.
Maybe Alexa James should familiarize herself with state law and Use of Force directives. A mental with a bat or a knife is just as deadly as a sane person with a bat or a knife - maybe more so since they won't listen to reason, logic, verbal direction, etc. Many even - get this - want to die and figure since they lack the fortitude to do it themselves, they'll get the cops to do it for them.
Maybe someone ought to ask why the membership of the National Alliance on Mental Illness doesn't have a few thousand of its members signing up for the police exam to show us all how it's done.
Maybe someone ought to ask why the membership of the National Alliance on Mental Illness doesn't have a few thousand of its members signing up for the police exam to show us all how it's done.
Labels: dumb ideas
posted by SCC at 12:31 AM
68 Comments:
I actually think this is more about 9 &1/2 closing mental health centers than us, but I could be wrong.....
Does this mean the CPD can no longer shoot mentals that pose a threat?
The city, County, State and Federal Governments got out of the mental health business years ago but forgot to tell everyone and hoped for the best. Well we all know how trusting people to self medicate is working out, sometimes they do and sometimes they forget. So who ultimately pays price for these deranged people hurting the public and getting into violent altercations with the police? The victims and the police. The citizens of this city are not worth protecting from the mentally ill or the criminals, so says your bossman politicians. So we have politicians that are more concerned with votes from the thug criminals and their families than your safety.
The real CIT course was 5 days. The new version is 1. Training on the cheap again so the power that be can say they are doing something. As someone who has taken the course years ago you have to remember the training is only a tool or tactic that may be used when appropriate. It is NOT appropriate in all circumstances and not the cure all that some profess it to be.
More police response= more shootings. The result won't change.
Send liberals to crisis intervention situations. They'll let themselves get beaten to death or shot. Then send the cops. Call an E.T. Make a report. Call the detectives. It's a win win. No lawsuit and one less vote for hilary.
Rahm closes mental health facilities and ups the level of contact of mental patients with the police. Then there are fatalities and Rahm decides that the POLICE need more training to deal with what HE caused.
Sounds about right for socialist thinking politicians. I bet you'll still vote for them like good dumbocrats though. Stupid.
Yea, right. Coppers deal with mentals everyday and a majority of the time things turn out ok. Things don't turn out ok if a mental is attacking us with a weapon. And no amount of training is or should change us from eliminating a threat that is trying to take our life or cause us great bodily harm. So bring on your CIT. But I still reserve the right to defend myself.
Reminds me of politicians advocating the use of less lethal force against an armed offender. Yes, a bat or edged weapon is considered being armed with a lethal weapon dummycrats.
Professionals have years of experience and education to deal with the mentally ill. This can not be learned in a class at the academy. We are getting away from police functions. Send social workers to those calls when the family doesn't want to deal with their family member.
These families know the person is violent and threatening, that's why they are calling the police.
Don't volunteer for it.
Make them order you to go.
They're acting like this will now stop ALL conflict with the mentally ill to appease the hood. YOU will be held personally responsible for anything that goes wrong.
No proactive thinking. Only overreactive thinking.
I think Rahm should also take this training -he could use some tips on learning how to
"de-escalate."
Rahm, and Daley before him, wanted all of these people to leave the city and move to the suburbs. Many have - overwhelming the resources there too.
Well rham you can close more mental health clinics now, and pack more city streets with red light cameras--- this is your reward
Laquan was a mental? No, he was high on PCP!
Dear rahm,
You keep adding additional training and changing the job description of Police Officer.
I welcome these opportunities, but with a caveat, you must increase our salary to refelect all the additional job requirements and duties.
I look forward to the increase in pay, as all the nickle and dime taxes make it difficult to live a middle class life in
Best regards,
Man in Blue
When do they start issuing straight jackets? Maybe 2 per watch, per car? What's next? Thorazine? Call for a Sergeant. Cheaper than Tasers & more efficient.
Want to get top notch police service? Claim or add the word "mental" to the call. Why then you'll get a highly trained officer and a Sgt. to your home.
Alexa James speaks like she does not have much knowledge about or experience dealing with mental illness.
SCC, that last paragraph was priceless and hit straight to the point. That was often my challenge to people who criticize the police. I would ask them why they didn't come OTJ if they were such experts. They usually either STFU or stammered some bit of idiocy. They never had the balls to sign up.
The people with the mental health training will be the first one's to get attacked with a bat or a knife during confrontations.
Maybe they can donate their own money to fund the clinics.
You closed the mental health facilities, but yet you pander and give billions to illegals what is wrong with this picture? the state started this with the closures,and agreed mental with a weapon is worse than anyone else in that crazy has no direction and an officer must constantly guess crazy's next moves!
Why not have special mental illness cars staffed with on call alderman,reverends, and volunteers they could respond to these type of calls and show the police how to do it, it would be the lead by example approach!
CIT training for 911 operators? Know what they will do now? Not question any call and send to dispatch therefore passing all liability on to you.
I Like this Doctor spend years with their patients and they can't figure it out. We're goint to get 16 hours and have to figure it out in five minutes.
How about Rahm opening up the clinics again so they can get the help they need.Maybe Rahm should be sued for closing them.
You know what'll curb this madness? Taser training. Got mine in yesterday. Have you?
why the hate for NAMI---our jails are being used to store mentally ill folks--same as the nursing homes....we need mental health clinics and residential facilities......and while I advocate for more mental and physical wellness information being provided----I do not think our CIT training is anything but garbage and have often cringed at the thought of some our current CIT trained members coming to my job.....wanna train everyone - fine, but good god don't limit it to those who volunteer or have been coerced (school cars everywhere)
Knee-jerk reaction from Swan Lake after closing half of the centers.
I'll say it again - cops should not be CITs. I was the one that cops called out to see these nutmegs. Sheesh.
This city is so fucked up.
--No Cop Here
From day one in the academy we were taught a simple rule: Don't argue with drunks or mentals. They are beyond the ability to be rational so don't waste your time. Just take control of the situation.
Alexa James is actually very pro-police. Could this have been worded better? Maybe. But just letting you know that she's not a hater.
Roses are red
violets are blue.
I'm schizophrenic
and, I am too!
Reverse Seniority for this dumb shit!
A class to learn when to call for an ambulance for nutjob!
God there's some funny sh it coming out of Chicongo! Headlines "Mayor Blows Up Dam, Police Given Flood Training". "Mayor Fires Police, Cannot Understand Spike In Crime".
When taxpayers moved from the city, did they take all the common sense?
Stay safe.
J.J.
The full CIT training was the best I ever had on the job. I hope they can do it justice on the much smaller scale.
The zone operators are supposed to send available CITs (that's why there is a Z by the car on the PCAD and the sheets) on mental disturbances, I start heading over when I hear them come over the air
Professionals have years of experience and education to deal with the mentally ill. This can not be learned in a class at the academy. We are getting away from police functions. Send social workers to those calls when the family doesn't want to deal with their family member.
These families know the person is violent and threatening, that's why they are calling the police.
Agreed!!! You nailed it. Do these families really care about their family member with the mental illness? You mostly hear.... "He gots a mental problem and he got to go!" They aren't interested in them receiving professional help and then staying on top of medical advice. Fuck it, if Rahm wants to do what's right then he should hire a shit load of licensed social workers who would be available to assist on these calls. We are the police!!!! We are NOT mental health professionals. I had the CIT course years ago and sometimes the "tools" taught work. However, when subject has been off their meds, is drunk and high on PCP or their preferred drug off choice; there is no special "sweet-talking" that is going to end in compliance. I'm so tired of this shit show!!!!!
CIT training is useless. It gives people (and cops) the perception that we are equipped and ready to handle any mental health issue, and gives them the expectation that they will get the same care and service as they would in a treatment facility. Kid gloves, understanding and compassion. That's not a realistic expectation. We have no equipment other than cuffs and tasers, and the training is simply a rational of understanding that they need clinical intervention. And of course, that putting them in jail is detrimental to their well-being. Mental HEALTH calls are simply that--Health issues, and should be handled by EMS. We can't let the medics get their asses beat, but the crisis is theirs. They can restrain and sedate under physician order. We can only restrain as necessary, but cuffs can injure, especially a combative subject. So as soon as you get a mental call, have the Zone send an ambulance, then get there and back them up. They can talk, or sedate or whatever the need to do to either get the individual to one of their chosen treatment facilities or get the refusal of service form signed. And on a side note, drunks, drug addicts and naturally hostile by choice or culture individuals are not mental. They need to be put into the system and suffer some sort of penal penalty for their chosen actions, not coddled and given a cushy bed to sleep on while they continually play the system. They never see or need to see a doctor until they are faced with arrest, or jail or any other semblance of lawful authority in their miserable lives. Stop helping them play the system and run a game on you at taxpayer expense. If they are dying or obviously injured, get them the help they need, but leave their fabricated treatment demands to their personal psyche to process.
To 8:14 am
FYI For many years the CPD in the 90's, 00's and 10's had the preeminent "mental car" in the city and perhaps the state in 771 days and later 2272 days. Nobody could speak and connect with the loonies like they did. It was awesome to watch. They will be missed. Their expertise could teach many in the ways of the "Mental Masters"
God bless HH and his partners.
If you're married over 25 years, you shouldn't have to be trained in dealing with lunatics. Just saying...
Rahm is purely short on his own mental capabilities...one can not score a fix with mental patients out on the street....remember Rahm...from your own friends....'it takes a village'. You're the one who closed 6 mental facilities. Professionals and experts in the field and loving family members can't stop a person who is in a state of great anxiety to calm down...how does Rahm expect the Police to be Psychiatrists and Care-Givers in a moments notice...thats not their job...they're job is to enforce the laws of the state you Fool. Resign now and get it over. You have made a complete mess of things.
All 911's for mentals should be answered by social workers - preferably minority social workers. Let them talk while dodging baseball bats and worse.
Liberalism IS A Mental Illness!
Should politicians have their mental health monitored?
Psychologists who have tracked politicians' careers now say their mental health should be monitored
23 January 2012
Now Dr Ashley Weinberg, senior lecturer in psychology at Salford University, suggests politicians should be regularly screened to test their psychological health
http://www.theguardian.com
Rahm should definitely be number one on the mental health monitoring list.
Anonymous said...
" From day one in the academy we were taught a simple rule: Don't argue with drunks or mentals. They are beyond the ability to be rational so don't waste your time. Just take control of the situation."
Too late for dealing with Superintendent McNut now.
CIT training was the best training I ever volunteered for. Please go to the class with an open mind, it can be a valuable tool (outside of work also). Although it will never replace some of the old school wagon guys, I knew a few in 007 in the eighties that had a song they would sing as they transported the "mentals" out to Tinley and sometimes the Read zone. Had mentals who would have their suitcase packed and they would actually get dressed up to go out to Tinley, they loved the friday night dance (true) and certain foods on certain days. I can also remember when some family members would actually jump in and help us with their uncooperative mentally ill family member. Old school wagon guys also always carried a pack of cigarettes (even the non-smokers)because a square could calm down some mentals.
"The real CIT course was 5 days. The new version is 1. Training on the cheap again so the power that be can say they are doing something."
1/30/2016 01:21:00 AM
...and that will probably boil down to a wiggly 12-minute Betamax videotape shown at roll call, equipment from the abandoned-Chicago-Public-Schools stash. You seen it, you been trained, anything goes south it's on you.
"...nursing homes...being used to store mentally ill folks..."
1/30/2016 09:17:00 AM
Proven frightening and dangerous for the elderly residents, but oh, what a money-maker. Have had the chance to sit and quietly listen to some nursing home "management" people, listen to them laugh about how they can keep the place full of just about anything the state doesn't want. Swear to God, the woman was giving me the mental image of dropping her head-first into a hole as a matter of public sanitation, and stomping the dirt down firmly for good measure.
...and in the background, lower-level employees waddling out to the parking lot in their uniform scrubs, loading the trunks of their nice automobiles with those big #10 institutional-size cans of food.
Really inspirational...
The full CIT training was the best I ever had on the job. I hope they can do it justice on the much smaller scale.
The zone operators are supposed to send available CITs (that's why there is a Z by the car on the PCAD and the sheets) on mental disturbances, I start heading over when I hear them come over the air.
Really?
The week CIT training was very good. They had actual mentals help with the scenarios. This training has been around forever and most coppers refuse to sign up for it because they feel that they already know how to do it or they dont want the extra responsibility. Everyone should take it. It will give you some more tools to use.
Citizen here
So, the city shuts down mental health centers. You now have more people with mental issues roaming the streets. He then makes YOU, the police somewhat responsible for them, because they now want to give you a few days worth of training on how to deal with them. Im sure people who are licensed to do this get paid very well and also have extensive training; not just a few days.
If you get attacked by someone with mental issues now, are you going to be in trouble because you somehow should have assessed they had these mental issues, and could get sued for not doing more? Could you lose your jobs because even though the guy was crazy, he had a knife and came at you, and you unfortunately had to shoot that person? Will IPRA claim you should have known better or used better CIT training methods?
What in the hell is going on?...the inmates truly are running the Chicago Asylum.
Since you cops are now getting more training, do you qualify for higher salaries, seeing that you now have "further education"?
From a legal standpoint, once you are trained, are you held to a higher standard when dealing with people who may or may not (and in some cases, you may not know until its too late) be mentally unstable?
Should your dispatcher be made aware of the fact that someone either making the call or involved with the situation that required a 911 call, has mental issues, so you can therefore have a specialist go to the call, as opposed to just police officers?
The mayor, aldermen, media, and the liberal hoi polloi all agree that the police are the worst option to deal with mentals, but STILL send us. That's the definition of crazy.
I learned cit and used it. Crazy people are people. Crazy lives matter.
So some nut ball climbs the WHITE HOUSE fence, doesn't get near the President and his family and gets shot by the uniformed Secret Service and it's all legit. Someone attacks a uniformed cop, and the officer should mediate the situation before protecting himself?
Worked the Wagon in Uptown best CTI training I ever had.
Did Rahm say that being mentally ill is not a criminal act...?
And so, 'training' will solve the problems when confronted with a bat wielding maniacs?
The training may be good but Rahms message is he's blaming the police for the mentally ill.
Totally fcuked up pimpy Obamanistic, bow to the bully approach.
Will there be a scenario where you de-escalate a dude coming at you with a baseball bat?
Does this mean we will become certified psychologist? I bet the training is administered by some politically connected firm.
Watching all this from afar is just shocking.
Families need to take care of their mentally-disturbed family members. If they don't, they shouldn't expect some blue-ribbon approach to handling some out-of-control, aggressive (because they didn't take their meds - or were never prescribed any) family members threatening to kill people.
TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY for your loved ones - AND take some of the blame if things get "out-of-hand".
"The real CIT course was 5 days. The new version is 1. Training on the cheap again so the power that be can say they are doing something."
The real purpose of the CIT training is not to help you, the responding officer, handle a critical situation with a peaceful outcome. It is for the City to say "we trained him/her to handle this."
It is to cover the City's liability ass. If it goes badly it is on the copper and they can flush you.
What the City should do is take some of those workers from the closed Mental Health Centers and put them at OEMC and some of them in cars to respond to street incidents and de-escalate the situation prior to police arrival. Maybe even not need the police.
"When do they start issuing straight jackets? Maybe 2 per watch, per car? What's next? Thorazine?"
How about a Prozac dart gun?
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Alexa James is actually very pro-police. Could this have been worded better? Maybe. But just letting you know that she's not a hater.
1/30/2016 09:35:00 AM
Prove
It...
The mayor should be doing the training. Look at how he controls all those alderpeople, the news media etc... Now that's crazy!
I am far from a bleeding heart, but Rahm should have never closed the six mental health facilities. There are people out there that truly need those services, and it made our job that much harder.
I work in hospital security and have had my share of cage matches with these nutjobs that don't take direction and are hell bent on doing bodily harm to whoever comes near them. Even mixed it up with this Frankenstein that beat a homeless guy to death with a brick once. Crisis intervention training? Ha ha ha, they need to start handing out lobotomies again. Long time blog fan and cpd supporter. Stay safe out there.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
If you're married over 25 years, you shouldn't have to be trained in dealing with lunatics. Just saying...
"True Dat"
Alexa is good people
The facilities were closed because they were not doing anything but getting a paycheck. This young man had problems and if he had been going to one of the clinics, they would not have done anything but give him the wrong medication and say hat is all we can do. As a mental health Advocate, I can listen to a mantle health professional and in the first five minutes tell if this person is qualified or not and sadly, most are not. Maybe they are all "C" students but they are flunking. Maybe they need to re-certify as nurses reportedly do. Stop saying the clinics closing caused the problem, unqualified people are the problem.
Anonymous Pigpen said...
Anonymous Anonymous said...
If you're married over 25 years, you shouldn't have to be trained in dealing with lunatics. Just saying...
"True Dat"
1/31/2016 09:13:00 AM
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Fabulous post!
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