By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been an emphasis on people’s mental health after lengthy shutdowns and months of economic uncertainty.
This is especially true in the world of law enforcement and emergency response.
The St. Joseph Police Department recently underwent extensive training on de-escalation. How to best treat situations during calls for mental health crises.
Paul Luster, the St. Joseph Chief of Police, says the training was more than necessary, as there's been an increased volume of calls and responses that involve someone going through a mental health crisis.
"Increasing demand for the police services, at least that initial response is that increased demand," Luster said on KFEQ Radio. "Then of course, the other challenge involved is the risk of violence when we do respond. And anytime there's that increased demand, there's pressure on police resources."
Luster says there’s been a tangible increase in calls involving a mental health crisis or drug abuse. Two things, he says, that sometimes go hand-in-hand.
"Up to 10% of police calls for service right now involve some type of mental health or substance abuse crisis or some combination of the two," Luster noted. "That's a lot of calls for service we could be dealing with on a given day."
Luster says in the last four years, since the COVID pandemic started and in the years that have followed, emphasis on mental health in law enforcement has improved.
Not only with increased resources to try and help the public, but also more resources have gone into helping the officers and first responders.
Missouri Senate Bill 551, enacted in 2021, established the "Critical Incident Stress Management Program," providing services for officers who may be coping with stress and potential psychological trauma.
Missouri Senate Bill 24 went into law last year. This makes PTSD a compensable occupational disease under workers' compensation. More and more police departments are also implementing Crisis Intervention Teams - or CITs.
"We have really come a long ways in this profession in the last decade to focus on officer wellness and peer support," Luster said. "It's something in the front of my mind and we've worked as a team to bolster our resources to our own employees as far as peer support and other training they can get to manage their own mental health."
Luster commends his officers for having gone through such extensive de-escalation training within the past few months.
He also commends city leadership for its help. Luster says everyone at city hall has been supportive any time his department has needed help and support, especially as it pertains to the mental well being of officers on the force.
"The support of the city manager and the council, when you go there to any of those folks with this business case if you will, this is what we need and why, they're willing to listen to that and if it makes sense, they support that."
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.