Portland cafe shows officer the door
- Thread starter Archangel M
- Start date
Agreed, however, this is the impression that I was getting from some posts. Perhaps I was misreading the intent behind them though.
It seems like you're asking about involuntary commitments. There's a wide range from state to state in how this is handled. Virginia recently relaxed some of the requirements on the doctor's end of things, in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings. For the cops, if we have reason to believe that a person is a threat to themselves or others, we can take 'em in for evaluation. We get some very broad, generic training to figure out what this constitutes... but nobody really expects us to become psychologists. We also get a good handle on crisis communication through the nature of the job.
Im just looking to further the thread, as it seemed to me anyways, that some people felt that the cops were not trained to deal with people with mental issues. Where I work, the cops deal with people with mental issues all the time. We have a mobil crisis unit, that we can call, if the person the cops are dealing with is already a client of mobil crisis. The cops have requested an ambulance to respond to bring the person to the ER, and a doc there does the eval. and the cop writes the paper.
As I said earlier, IMHO, I feel the cops have enough to deal with, without having to be trained as mental health doctors. If people in an area have a bad picture painted of the cops, well, that lies on the cops as well as the general public. Its kinda like judging a martial art from youtube. IMO, its better to form your own opinion, rather than go on what others say.
We've got a mobile crisis unit available, and they have the capability to respond to a scene if needed. They're actual docs/therapists, and they have the authority to issue a temporary/emergency detention order. But, I've got to say, in my experience, you're lucky if you can talk to one of them on the phone too often. Cops in the street do their best to make a call, and we transport them to a facility for evaluation. They can hold them 4 hours based on that... It gets complicated from there.
The bottom line is that cops in the street do have to deal with people with mental problems, ranging from very sub-standard IQ to full blown schizophrenia. But our toolbox is limited, both from an authority standpoint and a practicality standpoint. We just don't have time to learn to be therapists or whatever; if a person is acting nuts, we deal with them. And, if a person is posing a threat to us or to others -- we're going to act to deal with that threat. Bats, knives, bullets, and fists don't hurt less if the person using them has mental problems...
Well, I wouldn't say that I'm lucky...I actually hate calling them. LOL. The dispatchers usually make the calls, and the crisis team will either respond to the scene or will meet the officer at the ER.
Agreed. I didn't want to give the impression that I want the cops to be doctors as well. IMO, they have enough to deal with. Yes dealing with the mentally ill is part of the job, but there're people available, as we both acknowledge. The frustrating part is that the public wants the cops to be a jack of all trades.
I'd love to make a telephone recording and put it on the phones where I work. It'd go something like this: Press 1 if you'd like help raising your child, press 2 for the weather, 3 if you've locked yourself out of your house and want the police to help you get back in, 4 if........
LOL! Sad but true. I'm sure we could write a book, filled with interesting stories.
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Archangel M
Senior Master
The plane is late? Wrong order at McDonald's? Black person in a predominantly white neighborhood? Taxi driver wouldn't give you your change? Husband won't give you the remote control?
My brother works in emergency dispatch. My favorite stories are the ones from which he calls "repeat customers".
Cops: babysitters for adults.
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Archangel M
Senior Master
Yup.
And most of the times we actually have to go to these calls and deal with them. If someone calls the police...we go.
