In more than half of all instances when a mentally ill person commits a violent crime, the victim is a family member, a friend, or an acquaintance of the mentally ill suspect. And, those family member/victims have no choice, usually, but to call the police for help. Unfortunately, until recently police received very little training when it came to dealing with the mentally ill. In many areas that sort of training is still minimal, if any.

Police officers, especially those working in patrol, are jacks and jills of all trades. They’re expected to quell disturbances, disarm those who intend to harm or kill others, defend the lives and property of citizens, enforce traffic laws, serve arrest warrants, investigate crimes, and much, much more. And they receive a certain amount of basic training that’s required to do all of the above. Of course, more intensive training opportunities are available, if they have the time and the department can spare them from their scheduled duty.

Uniformed officers respond to numerous calls during their 8-12 hours shifts, and these calls range from barking dog complaints to murder and everything you can imagine in between—domestic troubles, bad checks, fights, stabbings, shots-fired, B&E, trespassing, shoplifting, robbery, car crashes, lost children, abduction, arson, assault, theft, drunk driving and, well, you name it and they’ve responded to it…over and over, time after time.

Each call, no matter how it’s labeled, is different. The people are rarely the same as those they encountered on similar calls (with the exception of the repeat “customers”), settings vary, weather differs, and the actions of witnesses and suspects are often unfamiliar or uncommon. In other words, patrol officers never know what to expect when they arrive on-scene. Even a repeat offender could act differently each time he interacts with law enforcement. Drugs and alcohol are factors that definitely come into play in many of these situations.

Add all of these uncertainties to an encounter with a mentally ill person who decides to attack someone, and the situation takes on an entirely new perspective. Violence can escalate in the blink of an eye, even during encounters with people who are healthy in both mind and body, and officers are used to dealing with that sort of instant violence. They do what they have to do to keep people safe and to make an arrest, but they do not possess the psychic ability of being able to instantly diagnose mental illnesses.

The Police Chief magazine reports that 7-10% of all police encounters involve someone with a mental illness.

Even when officers do recognize that someone is mentally ill their options for helping that person at that precise moment are slim. In fact, their alternatives when responding to a call where an act of violence was committed by a person with a mental illness are basically to either let the suspect go or arrest them and take them to jail. Obviously, like the call I once responded to where a mentally ill man hacked and chopped his sister-in-law with an ax because she wouldn’t stop cleaning the house long enough to go to the store to buy him a pack of cigarettes, cannot be allowed to go free. Nor can police turn loose a suspect who attacks or shoots at them.

Officers often have to use force when arresting mentally ill subjects and doing so increases the risk of injury to both the officer and the suspect. But they simply cannot stand there idle while the mentally ill person continues to harm himself and/or others.

Responding officers are obviously not trained psychologists or psychiatrists, therefore an on the spot diagnosis is not available. Neither is the option of taking someone who’s accused of a violent crime straight from the street to a mental institution. So jail it is. Keep in mind, too, that not all mental illnesses are easily recognizable in the few minutes or seconds officers have when assessing and reacting to various situations.

To help with the problems associated with police response to incidents involving mentally ill persons, agencies are now employing new tactics, such as forming crisis intervention teams consisting of specially-trained officers who can facilitate emergency mental health assessments along with transportation to a mental health treatment facility, if that’s an option. Remember, though, that many treatment facilities will not accept those who have pending charges for violent offenses, and that leaves those individuals to make their way through jail, court proceedings, and finally prison.

In 2006, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) estimated there were 705,600 mentally ill people in state prisons, 78,800 in federal prison, and 479,900 in local jails.

I’ve seen first-hand what the mentally ill population looks like in state, federal, and local facilities, and it’s not a pretty sight. Have you watched the hit TV show The Walking Dead? Well, that’s a fine example of what evening pill call looks like at a low custody federal prison, where highly-medicated prisoners stand in long lines outside the medical department waiting to receive their next dose of zombie-inducing medications.

Keeping these inmates “doped-up” and “calmed-down” until their release back into society where they’ll no longer have access to those medicines is indeed the norm. And, without a means of generating income (it’s difficult enough for a former inmate who’s healthy to find a job and housing) these recently released felons will go without their much-needed medication (some become addicts while in prison), and the process begins once again.

“Nine-one-one, do you have an emergency?”

“Yes, my son just got out of prison and he’s trying to kill me with a butcher knife. He’s off his meds and he’s acting all crazy. Help me, please!”

And so it goes.

*By the way, the mentally ill man I mentioned above, the one who hacked his sister-in-law with an ax, was released from prison a short time prior to the incident and no longer had access to the medications he’d received while incarcerated. It was only a few days after his release when he brutally attacked the woman, completely chopping off her right hand and repeatedly hacked at her head and back until small bone fragments and blood and spatter painted the floor and nearby walls, lamps, and furniture. Her three small children were in the room at the time and witnessed the violent and bloody attack. They were hiding under the bed, five- or six-feet away from their mother’s body, when I arrived. They, too, were covered from head to toe with smears and splatters of, well, you know.

I was in high school when I watched the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center, open to the public. I like many others, admired the strength and dominance of the structures. They were the skyline of an eclectic city. Their absence leaves a void in the skyline, as well is in the country.

It is hard to believe an entire decade has slipped past me since that horrific day on September 11 2001. I was so looking forward to my daughter’s birthday and rejoining my family. I stood there at Emma Booker School that day as the President read to the children. Those same children that were unwelcome visitors to history, are now seniors in high school. They are now planning to embark on their college careers next year. On that day, one that seemed to never end. I arrived home long after my daughter had slipped off into slumber and was out the door before she had awakened. My days continued like that for weeks. Her birthday came and went without celebration.

Weeks later, we were finally celebrating her birthday with a visit to Universal Studios. I admired the resilience of the visitors to the park that day. We too had escaped the solitude that enveloped the country. Our joy was dampened, when I received the call to report to Ground Zero for a tour at the recovery site. The images, sounds and acrid odor linger with me a decade later. The scars in my lungs are a souvenir of my time spent on that hallowed ground.

While I dug through the rubble, I prayed everyday to help guide me to some discovery that would bring closure to a victim’s family. I believe it was those daily prayers that allowed me to escape without any emotional trauma. I was comforted on a daily basis by those unselfish volunteers with the Salvation Army and The American Red Cross. I cannot begin to explain the difference they made and the strength they provided to all the rescue workers.

What surprised me most at Ground Zero was what did survive. Stacks of papers from financial houses, bone fragments, clumps of hair and a few articles of clothing. One garment that stood out to me, was a sweater probably worn by a twenty something year old female. When the victim slipped that sweater on that morning, she had no idea how her life would be altered within the next few hours. I am sure she anticipated  an uneventful day as she brushed her teeth and closed the door to her apartment for the last time. She no doubt looked forward to a happy hour that would never occur.

It was a year later that I was sharing a gritty, dusty shipping container with nine other bunkmates in Afghanistan. I witnessed up close the impoverished countryside that had been racked by war for decades. I thought how quickly we take for granted the simple pleasures in life such as electricity, running water, heat, air conditioning, as well as freedom from oppression. Most of all, as I stared at the stars in the dark cold night, I appreciated life.

I wave the flag for all those victims and for their families that showed the courage to rise above the sucking vortex of life and make a difference in the world. Embrace life!

*     *     *

While working as both a local cop and a federal agent, Mike Roche has spent three decades chasing bad guys and conducting behavioral assessments of stalkers and assassins. He started his career with the Little Rock Police Department. He was assigned to patrol, street crimes and as a financial crimes detective. After ten years, Mike started his federal law enforcement career with the Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco. One year later, he transferred to the U.S. Secret Service.

Throughout his career, Mike investigated financial fraud, counterfeiting, threat cases, terrorism and protection of dignitaries. Mike retired in 2012, from the U.S. Secret Service as a special agent after twenty-two years. Mike was noted for interpersonal skills while assigned as a liaison with the FBI, CIA, and local agencies. He is an adjunct instructor at St. Leo University, teaching Threat assessments of Lone Shooters and Risk Assessments of Physical Structures.

Mike Roche is the author of police procedurals, The Blue Monster and Coins of Death, as well the young adult romance/mystery Karma!. His most recent works are , Face 2 Face, a non-fiction work on Observing, Interviewing and Rapport Building, and Mass Killers: How you Can Identify, Workplace, School, or Public Killers Before They Strike.

Television, film, and the media often skew the reality of police work. Sometimes they alter the public’s perception so badly that people can no longer separate fiction from fact. But there are times when those entertainment sources (yes, some media is entertainment, not news) actually help the police. Such as…

Driver’s Side or Passenger Side? Television and film has provided patrol officers with an excellent means of tactical surprise, the Passenger’s Side Approach. Most TV cops approach stopped vehicles from the driver’s side, and that’s what the general TV-viewing public expects.

Sooo…when a real-life cop approaches the passenger side of a vehicle, most drivers and passengers are totally clueless about the officer who’s standing at the passenger window watching while they’re busy hiding their dope and other illegal goodies beneath the front seat. The officer also has a good view of the occupants’ hands and what they may be holding, such as a gun. And, since most people are right-handed, a passenger-side approach makes it a bit more difficult for someone to shoot an officer who’s standing to the right of the vehicle. Not impossible, just awkward.

Believe me, traffic stops are especially scary to police officers because they have no idea what’s waiting for them inside the cars they’ve stopped. Therefore, any advantage, even slight ones, are a huge plus.

Inside or Outside When Making the Arrest? When officers prepare to make an arrest subsequent to, or during a traffic stop, we sometimes see scenarios where officers ask vehicle occupants to remain inside their cars, while at other times officers order them outside. Which is best? Well, as always, my answer is…it depends, and we see both on TV. But which is best in the real world?

Well, the first priority in any situation is the officer’s safety. Of course the suspect’s safety is also a concern, but in this world, a world where fighting with law enforcement seems to be a popular sport, officers must look out for number one…themselves. Therefore, an officer’s safety comes first. ALWAYS.

Officers should order the occupants to show their hands and keep them where they can see them at all times. *One of the top rules of officer survival is—HANDS KILL!

Keeping the suspect(s) in the car means there’s less chance the suspect can get away on foot and/or fight with the officer. However, to prevent escape in the vehicle it is extremely important that the officer gain control of the driver’s keys. So they’ll have the driver shut down the engine, remove the keys, and hand them to them. In other situations officers may order the driver to drop the keys outside the car window. But the latter is for a different situation and for another blog post.

The officer should order all occupants to keep their hands on the tops of their heads where they’re easily seen. The next step would be to have the driver remove his seat belt and then return his hands to the top of his head. Now, with the driver’s seat belt off and hands on top of his head, the officer may easily handcuff the suspect’s wrists and have him exit his car.

If there are other occupants in the car, well, it’s a bit tricky to keep an eye on them while handling the arrest of the driver, but with practice and having everyone keep their hands where the officer can see them, the task becomes easier. Never less scary or dangerous, but easier. After all, practice and training increase the officer’s chances of survival.

Again, an officer, real or fictional, should always remember that HANDS KILL!