Wichita police to raise focus on mental-illness training but still below national mark

When the 911 system in Wichita gets a call involving a person with mental illness, the goal is to send a police officer who is specially trained to deal with such issues. But it might not happen.

Although the Wichita Police Department is moving toward training more officers for those calls, the agency now falls below a national recommendation on the percentage of officers trained — which is a concern for a Wichita attorney.

The recommended training level, generally calls for law enforcement agencies to have 20 to 25 percent of their patrol officers trained in crisis intervention, or CIT. Much of the training deals with de-escalation techniques.

Currently, about 14 percent of the Wichita police officers — 84 — have CIT training, said Wichita police Officer Justin Whyte, who helps lead the training. The training level, which has been affected by turnover, is expected to rise to about 20 percent in June, when 20 more officers will go through the 40-hour course, Whyte said.

The department also has committed to training all field-services officers by the end of the year in what is called mental health first aid, an eight-hour introductory course.

“So we’re progressing,” Whyte said.

Still, the improvement is too slow for Wichita attorney James Thompson, who represents some families who have filed lawsuits in shootings by Wichita police officers.

“I think it’s sad that our Police Department has not got us up to the national standard already, because this program has been around for years in the city of Wichita,” Thompson said.

The lower level of training puts lives at risk, Thompson said. The training is key, he said, because it gives officers the best tools.

Wichita police have come under criticism from relatives of Icarus Randolph, a 26-year-old Marine veteran who, according to his family, had post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Iraq. Police said an officer fatally shot Randolph on July 4 outside his home after he charged with a knife. Randolph’s family said that instead of helping him, two police officers sent to the home caused or allowed the situation to escalate.

Three days after the shooting, then Police Chief Norman Williams said in an e-mail that the officer involved in the shooting was CIT-trained.

The numbers

At the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office 32 percent of the commissioned deputies are CIT-trained, according to sheriff’s Lt. Lin Dehning.

In September 2007, academics from the University of Memphis who have been involved with the “Memphis Model” for police interaction with the mentally ill, published a paper saying, “Experience has shown that a successful CIT program will have trained 20-25% of the agency’s patrol division… Ultimately, the goal is to have an adequate number of patrol officers trained in order to ensure that CIT-trained officers are available at all times.”

In Chicago, for example, the Police Department tries to have CIT-trained officers on all shifts throughout the city, according to a paper published in August 2012 by the Police Executive Research Forum.

The Wichita police policy on dealing with people with mental illness – Policy 519, which is available online – says CIT-trained officers may not be available at all times.

Still, the policy notes that all officers, whether they have CIT training, “will manage calls with a suspected mental health or substance abuse component professionally.” The policy requires officers to know 15 bullet points dealing with de-escalation, including “Remain calm and avoid overreacting” and “Be helpful.”

Janet Brumbaugh, president of the Wichita chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said, “It would be wonderful if they could train more and get the percentage up higher.” But Brumbaugh said she understands there are limitations. Whether a CIT officer is available can depend on timing and location, she said.

The group encourages families or individuals seeking help to always request a CIT-trained officer, she said.

Gerry Lichti, a member of the local chapter, said his understanding is that the department has never reached the 25-percent benchmark. Still, he said, “We have a good start.”

Every officer who gets the training can help influence others to handle calls correctly, Lichti said.

The training is voluntary, not required.

Officer safety is key

When the 911 system gets a call that might be a CIT situation, the dispatchers have access to which officers are CIT-trained, said Elora Randleas, deputy director of Sedgwick County Emergency Communications. If it is a volatile situation, 911 dispatchers will first send whoever is available immediately, whether they are CIT-trained or not.

Dispatchers also are trained. They try to help de-escalate the situation over the phone, Randleas said. They also try to prepare a caller who might be mentally ill, by saying they are sending officers, and “It’s not because you’re in trouble,” she said.

For police, the main focus of CIT is officer safety, because if the officer isn’t safe, he or she can’t help others, Whyte said.

When a mental health crisis call comes in, at least two officers go, Whyte said. It allows one officer to turn down his radio while talking to the person. The other officer can position himself farther away and provide back-up. Turning the radio down minimizes the distraction and allows the closer officer to focus his attention on the person. Lowering the volume also might help someone who is paranoid — who might think the voices on the radio are talking about him.

In Dallas, according to the 2012 national police document, a crisis intervention signal results in four officers plus a sergeant being dispatched.

Because the main goal is to de-escalate, the response includes talking calmly to people who might be mentally ill, Whyte said.

Another goal is buy-in: “We want to make them think it’s their idea if we want to take them somewhere” for help or treatment, Whyte said.

Whyte is a Navy reservist and veteran, has been a Wichita police officer for nearly 13 years and works in community policing in the Hilltop area. The 35-year-old was in the first CIT class offered in 2008 and has some family members who have mental health disorders, so he has familiarity.

“We want CIT officers to do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons — not to rush to failure,” he said. It takes time to build rapport, to gain trust.

It requires officers to treat the mentally ill respectfully, as consumers, Whyte said. “It’s part of breaking down that stigma of a mental health disorder.” In fact, he uses the word “consumer” when he refers to a person with mental illness. “Having a mental disorder is not criminal,” he said.

Because CIT training stresses de-escalation, officers learn to ask agitated people what calms them down? What works? Do they have family who can help? Have they talked to any professionals?

To help break the ice at a call, some officers keep cigarettes available for people who like to smoke. Whyte hands out hard candy.

Whyte also pays attention to body language, positioning: He avoids standing over people. If they are sitting down, he sits.

As much as anything, an officer has to be a good listener.

Once, by listening to a woman with a mental illness, Whyte learned that the reason she was so upset was because her television wouldn’t work. He checked her converter box, and it wasn’t plugged in. Whyte plugged it in.

He noted that police have seen a steady rise in mental illness 911 calls in the last three years. “So we know it’s not going away.” Officers are coming into contact with more people with mental illness on the streets and in neighborhoods partly because of diminished institutional resources.

This story was originally published March 14, 2015 at 2:47 PM with the headline "Wichita police to raise focus on mental-illness training but still below national mark."