Kane County crisis training teaches police calm, communication over handcuffs
The woman's speech was slurred as she clutched a bottle of wine in a paper bag while lying on the floor of a building in Burlington. An electrical cord was wrapped around her neck.
Carpentersville police Officer Nate Hartley could have ordered her to stand and, if she didn't, arrested her for possession of alcohol in public, trespassing, disorderly conduct and maybe even resisting arrest.
Instead, he sat down, introduced himself as "Nate" and listened.
The woman complained about her roommate and her overbearing mom, who she thought was poisoning her. She acknowledged the cord was for her to use to kill herself.
Hartley called for an ambulance and continued asking open-ended questions about the woman and told her that he could find someone to help.
"How about if we find people who will listen - would you agree to that?" Hartley asked, eventually easing her off the floor and retrieving the cord. "I'm just a police officer. I don't have those skills but I can point you in the right direction."
Hartley and the woman left peacefully - drawing praise from Heather Robinson, an Elgin police detective who is evaluating Kane County's second Crisis Intervention Training this year for the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board.
Robinson told Hartley that he could have paused just a little longer after asking the woman, portrayed by instructor and freelance actor Lisa Dawn Curran, if she wanted to end her life.
Oftentimes, Robinson said, the subject will talk and open up more to fill the silence. "It's hard to do, but if you do that, you will get a lot of information," she told Hartley.
Kane County Sheriff's Lt. Chris Collins said the 40-hour training for some 20-plus officers from departments across the county will help increase the likelihood of positive outcomes when officers respond to situations involving people with mental illness.
"It teaches officers new approaches," Collins said.
In a second exercise, Kane County Deputy Gabe Velazquez encountered a sleeping, drunk and suicidal man portrayed by actor Jamie Black.
Black was more belligerent than Curran, and it took a bit longer for Velazquez to coax Black to his feet. When he did, Velazquez introduced himself a second time as "Gabe," drawing kudos from Robinson.
Some of the training Thursday involved a suicidal subject, while other sessions involved actors portraying people with autism or mental illness, such as schizophrenia.
The weeklong training session wraps up Friday. Kane County officials hope to coordinate two training opportunities in the coming year, and Elgin and Aurora police have done their crisis training as well.