Commentary: Improving mental health and law enforcement interactions, and recognizing progress made New Hampshire Bulletin – New Hampshire Bulletin

There is always room for improvement in everything we do; being open to constructive criticism is a must if you are to improve on your product or service. Think of the progress made in technology year over year. Improvements were driven by the customer experience, needs, and interests. However, aspiring to do better every day should not negate the accomplishments made over time. Our successes need to be honored and celebrated as well.

Much has been said over the past several months about the interactions between those living with mental illness and law enforcement. We have heard about the catastrophic outcomes, including the loss of life for the person living with mental illness and/or addiction, as well as the pronounced trauma experienced by the law enforcement professionals involved. These situations are tragic and deserve a careful examination of the circumstances and the facts. The hope is that we could develop ways to avoid negative outcomes in the future.

At the same time, it is important to recognize the progress made to support those living with mental illness not only during times of crisis, but also when living successful, fulfilling lives in the community. For many years Riverbend Community Mental Health has worked closely with Concord first responders. Riverbends board of directors has been fortunate to have retired N.H. commissioner of safety John Barthelmes, Concord Police Chief Brad Osgood, and John Chisholm, the deputy chief of administration for the Concord Fire Department.All three are integral members of a diverse board addressing several key strategic initiatives, including integrated approaches to treating people in crisis.

We are also grateful for the leadership of Chief Osgood and that of Commissioner of Safety Robert Quinn. They have dedicated countless hours to training their teams on signs and symptoms of mental illness and de-escalation techniques when working with people in psychiatric crisis.In addition, Commissioner Quinn was recently honored for his work in supporting his troopers in managing daily stress, burnout, and critical incident debriefing and post-traumatic stress.

The Mobile Crisis Response Team has been active in Concord for 6 years.In the past three years, Riverbend alone has responded to 11,904 calls to assist someone in psychiatric crisis. The mobile crisis team has been deployed to community locations 1,017 times. Of these calls, 69 were referrals from the police department. Working together we have reduced the need to use force to manage a situation. The other nine community mental health centers in New Hampshire are engaged in similar processes. With the Jan. 1implementation of the Rapid Response Access Point and Rapid Response teams, all of New Hampshire now has access to mobile crisis services.

Although a high percentage of incarcerated people are also living with mental illness, the vast majority of people living with mental illness are not involved in the criminal justice system. They are not violent, they are not dangerous. Consider this: Riverbend serves over 7,000 people a year; 95 percent are living in the community, and most are employed either independently or through the Supported Employment Program. They attend outpatient services, pay taxes, and have families and friends who love them. They deserve to be treated with kindness, compassion, dignity, and respect, like every other person living with any other illness.

We all strive to do better every day. We will continue to work with our law enforcement and other first responder colleagues in a collaborative manner. We will continue to have high expectations of ourselves and the services we offer. People living with mental illness and/or addiction deserve nothing less.

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Commentary: Improving mental health and law enforcement interactions, and recognizing progress made New Hampshire Bulletin - New Hampshire Bulletin