In response: Crises can have better conclusion

January 09, 2008 12:14 am

— For many people living with mental illness and their loved ones, the recent tragedy of Richard T. Vosburgh hits close to home. Vosburgh, like one in five Americans, was living with a mental illness — bipolar disorder in his case.
Each of us can see ourselves, our loved ones or our clients in the Vosburgh family’s tragedy.
The police are often a first contact for people in a mental health crisis. Newspapers regularly print stories where, even when officers try to use the best tools they know to peacefully resolve a situation, these crises come to fatal ends.
There is a better tool for peace officers being implemented across the country and in cities like Rochester and Minneapolis. The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) is a program designed to improve the outcomes of police interactions with people with mental illness.
CIT officers are trained to prevent crisis and de-escalate a crisis when it occurs. They learn tools for responding more safely and compassionately to people with mental illness, and about options beyond arrest and incarceration when they encounter people with mental illness. Training improves public safety and reduces officer injuries, while reducing the amount of time officers spend dealing with these types of calls.
CIT also works for people experiencing mental health crises. Through de-escalation techniques, officers can prevent a crisis from deteriorating to the point where use of force is likely. When they encounter a CIT officer, people are more likely to be transferred to treatment, to stay out of jails and emergency rooms, and receive treatment in the community.
CIT also frees up public resources. By diverting people with mental illness from jails, CIT helps ensure that jails are used for criminals, not people who need treatment. CIT also saves public resources by preventing people from deteriorating to the point where they are incarcerated or require costly emergency services. Finally, CIT saves police time and money by creating an efficient system for transferring people from law enforcement custody to mental health treatment.
Police officers have to make difficult, split-second decisions that can mean life or death. We sympathize with the gravity of the Mankato officer’s decision, as well as with the Vosburgh family’s loss. Perhaps with a tool like CIT in the police department’s toolbox the next mental health crisis in Blue Earth County could come to a more hopeful end.