OC Deputies go through Mental Health and Illness Training

Deputies with the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office, as part of ongoing training, went through a session recently with individuals from the National Alliance on Mental Illness.  The session was entitled “Crisis Intervention Training”. The training, which was a requirement for all certified officers, focused on showing officers the importance on how to deal with those who have mental health problems, the understanding of what causes mental illness, the basic definitions and symptoms of mental illness, from depression to schizophrenia to bipolar disorder to post traumatic stress disorder to paranoia and hallucinations.  A two year federal grant has made the training possible for law enforcement officers and correctional officers and staff. The training also focused on verbal and non-verbal communications for officers when dealing with the mentally ill and the behavior of those they come in contact with, as well as the importance of officer safety. The subject of mental health and law enforcement has come to light in recent years due to the increased number of calls that law enforcement officers have made in regards to mental health issues.  A recent joint report from the Treatment Advocacy Center and the National Sheriffs’ Association entitled “Justifiable Homicides by Law Enforcement Officers: What is the role of mental illness?” from September 2013 quotes a 2012 article from the Portland Press Herald from Maine in which an investigation into police related shootings indicated that “at least half of the people shot and killed by police each year in this country have mental health problems.”  Even though there have been no formal studies conducted, the joint report points out “through published accounts of officer-related shootings of individuals with mental illness,”  that many mentally ill persons shot by officers were “not being treated at the time of the shootings,” with wording stating that “he has a history of mental illness and wasn’t taking his medications.”  Plus, some of those killed by law enforcement officers in the line of duty were well-known to police and that some individuals were provoking officers to shoot them, a phenomenon known as “suicide by cop.”  “Law enforcement officers face a myriad of problems and issues on a daily basis,” says Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw.  “It is important that they are properly trained in order to resolve any situation. Unfortunately, many of these issues relate to individuals with some type of mental illness. They can range from depression to schizophrenia. This training allowed us to better understand the complexity of a person’s mental health. With a greater understanding, we are equipped to be more effective.” Officers also received some information regarding the National Association of Mental Illness.  NAMI offers many services that are free of charge, including educational meetings and support groups which are held the first Tuesday of each month at Pendleton United Methodist Church in Pendleton, plus, family-to-family, peer-to-peer, and basics courses.  For more information, NAMI has a toll free South Carolina helpline, which can be reached at 1-800-788-5131 or locally at 864-882-5131.  NAMI also has a website, which can be accessed at www.namiaop.org.