Therapist & Founder of Hope for Wellness Bridging the Gap Between Police and

Bridging the Gap Between police and individuals with mental illness

Story by Allison Clowers Design and Illustration by Grace Winter Individuals who experience untreated mental illnesses are 16 times more likely to be seriously injured or killed during an encounter with police officers, according to the Treatment Advocacy Center, a national mental health advocacy nonprofit.

Many interactions between police officers and individuals experiencing mental health crises can be misunderstood resulting in life changing events. Johnny Rice, assistant professor of Criminal Justice at Coppin State University in Maryland, says, “We need to do better … law enforcement officers, mental health experts, will all agree that we need to do better as a community and as agencies that care about the well-being of the citizens.”

Police Policies and Training It is not uncommon for law enforcement to come across a scene where they must assist someone dealing with poor mental health. However, the effects of some mental disorders look similar to the effects of drug use.

Officers who are called to a crime scene must assess the situation and decide whether or not the individual is a danger to themselves or others, and decide what their unusual behavior is being caused by, according to Lindsey Vaagen, senior lecturer of sociology and independent social worker at Vaagen Counseling Services.

These assessments are included in some police training. “You learn a lot of the effects of the drugs, and then you're able to compare it with what you know of people … that have had mental health disorders,” says Lieutenant of the CWU Police Department, Marc McPherson.

Each law enforcement agency has a certain amount of training that is required to go out in the field and interact with citizens in need of assistance.

McPherson describes the annual process the CWU Police go through to improve campus safety. “We work with the health and counseling center, and so they'll come in and give us some updates on what the emerging trends are.”

McPherson also shares that every officer at the CWU Police is “required by the state to have a significant amount of training in crisis intervention techniques.” He adds that new officers must complete a 40hour course in the academy, followed by 2-hour refreshers that take place annually.

While the CWU Police Department has a few different trainings to go through to keep the students safe, not all agencies have such extensive training. Many agencies have different policies that are put in place within their departments, according to Rice.

Because the types of training are not universal across the U.S., incidents can occur that endanger the lives of everyone involved.

Rice notes a situation he recalls where “law enforcement had been called and the response was that the individual who may have suffered a psychiatric episode, was killed.”

Vaagen notes the first step law enforcement or mental health professionals should take when in the field with an individual who may be experiencing a mental health crisis, is to assess their behavior to gain a better understanding of the situation.

Rapid movements or speech, disorientation from reality, are all signs an individual may be experiencing a mental health crisis, accroding to Vaagen..

After an assessment is made in the field of what kind of crisis an individual is experiencing, law enforcement will decide what their next step is. McPherson reports that they will “get to the scene and contact the individuals; if we determine that there's a mental health issue or something that a social worker, or even another advocacy area could be helpful, we'll get a hold of them.”

While the policies and procedures in place at law enforcement agencies throughout the country are unique, most of them are similar in their intent: to help their communities. Careful assessments and observations from police officers and mental health professionals on the scene is what can help keep citizens safe, but consistency is necessary among these agencies.

Resources for Improvement Danny DeMatteo, professor of psychology and law at Drexel University in Philadelphia discusses that different types of Specialized Police Responses can “ improve the interactions between police and people with mental illness and … promote the safety of the individuals and police officers and … lead to better outcomes.”

The most common type is Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT), which are typically used to de-escalate difficult situations in the field, and train officers to look out for warning signs in hopes of having a positive and safe interaction, according to DeMatteo.

DeMatteo discusses another type, called Co-Responder Teams, which are instances when a police officer works closely with a mental health professional to help the interaction with the struggling individual “remain calm and facilitate a more meaningful interaction.”

Lastly, law enforcement uses Follow-Up Teams to check up on individuals who have

experienced traumatic mental health issues. Vaagen says these responsive methods are often used to offer support to individuals directly affected by a tragedy.

These are all useful resources for police agencies to use as de-escalation techniques or other support for individuals experiencing trauma or mental health crises. However, according to the University of Memphis’ CIT Center, in 2019 there were 2,700 CIT programs across the United States, which only covered around 15 percent of police agencies in the country.

There are many resources for law enforcement to use in order to help individuals in need of support, but there aren’t very many of these programs being implemented in agencies to offer this help.

Currently, there is a massive issue in the United States with mental health; according to the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI), one in five adults in the United States experiences some form of mental illness, and many of them don’t have access to the right treatment needed.

DeMatteo notes the three highest providers of mental health facilities are Rikers Island Jail, Cook County Jail and Los Angeles County Jail. According to the Treatment Advocacy Center, nearly 10 times the amount of mentally ill individuals is incarcerated rather than receiving treatment in a psychiatric facility.

Preventative measures, policies and trainings can help keep these individuals out of prisons and receive quality treatment for their disability.

The most important thing DeMatteo says is that society needs to “dispel this myth that people with mental illness are more dangerous than others; mental illness by itself is not a risk factor for violence for most people.”

Education on psychological disorders and sociological practices is not required as part of training for police officers. More of this type of training can lead to better interactions between individuals with mental health problems and law enforcement.

Rice believes that better training across the board for professionals involved in these crisis interactions can create a brighter perspective on the relationship between them and those expiring poor mental health, in hopes that “the person who is going through the crisis, to get the services and support that they need and are dealt with in a way that does not allow them to harm others or themselves in the process.”

COVID-19: THE PANDEMIC THAT EXPOSES AMERICA’S ANTI-ASIAN SENTIMENT

Story by Kim Nguyen | Design & Illustration by Itzel Montoya

“Go back to your own country, Chinese virus!” This phrase can be offensive and degrading, yet it is still used and aimed toward Asian individuals all around the world. Being blamed for a global pandemic, many discriminating incidents have been reported from this community to the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council (A3PCON).

With the rise of COVID-19 cases, Asian communities are facing not only one, but two pandemics: a deadly virus and racial discrimination.

Anti-Asian sentiment starts to get serious alongside the COVID-19 outbreak because the first few cases are believed to originate from Wuhan, China. Unfortunately, “many Americans associate all Asian faces with China — leading to incidents that run across te Asian and Asian American community,” says Era Scherpfer, executive director of the Foundation for International Understanding Through Students (FIUTS).

The A3PCON publishes a Stop Asian American Pacific Islander Hate National Report on August 27, 2020, which details that between March 19 and August 5, 2020, there have been 2583 reports of anti-Asian behaviors nationwide. Reported incidents vary anywhere from racial slurs to physical assaults and potential civil rights violations.

Jia Jin Xu, senior Business Administration major reveals, “I was in Portland, and a guy told me ‘to go back to China with the virus’ when he passed by me.”

Xu adds, “Although people have given me looks during pre-COVID times, they have never confronted me with their racial slurs before. However, with the anti-Asian sentiment now, I feel that people have more audacity to bully us in public.”

During the rally at Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 20, 2020, Donald Trump, President of the United States, associates COVID-19 as the ‘Chinese virus’ and ‘Kung-flu’. “Unfortunately, the two terms have been thrown around and used as a political insult not only in foreign matters between China and the U.S., but to the Asian community that are in America,” shares Andrew Luu, senior Finance major. “While it is true that COVID-19 originated from China and the term might be used as ‘just for the laughs’, it had much more detrimental effects,” Xu adds.

The number of Asian people, both as international students and American-born, grows more and more through time, especially in higher education institutions. COVID-19 already affects them, as many other native students, but there is the discrimination weight upon their shoulders simply because of their ethnicity.

Mimi Nguyen, a Vietnamese high school graduate whose family just arrived in the U.S. a couple of months ago, explains, “I was concerned about the judgements of other people just based on our ethnicity or look. It is scary.”

“Before flying to the U.S., I was really nervous. Not only because of the trip itself and COVID-19, but also how my family and I will be treated during this time,” she adds.

Nguyen is not the only one who feels this way. After great supporting efforts toward international students, Scherpfer concludes, “Many have felt even more isolated because of anti-Asian sentiment and some have been victims of bias incidents.”

Regarding the effect of these anti-Asian sentiments, Luu explains, “Seeing in the news and hearing from friends what has happened to the

“Before flying to the U.S., I was really nervous. Not only because of the trip itself and COVID-19, but also how my family and I will be treated during this time.”

minds of some Americans expressing anti-[Asian] opinions … is what I believe pushed my family to start exercising our Second Amendment right. Only because of the anxiety and need to protect the family, this was the best course of action that many adults in the family have decided.”

A global pandemic challenges the world to unify and grow stronger together in a perfect scenario. COVID-19 has exposed all the negative sides of the American society, especially racial discrimination.

In order to combat this, many institutions have created support systems to stand up for Asian communities that are facing harassments and threats. Organizations like FIUTS are innovators in this movement. “Most of our work involves building trust and community, so our staff have worked to create safe spaces to talk about racism, bias and discrimination,” Scherpfer shares.

“In addition to our work with students, we’ve worked to share updates with our larger community about how proposed legislation impacts our work and have encouraged people to speak with their elected representatives about these important issues,” she adds.

Many individuals who identify within Asian communities also step up and voice their opinions. “Please do not look at the problem on a surface level and follow bigoted remarks,” Luu stresses. “Please do more research and understand our side of the coin and how we feel. In a time where everyone is hurting, please have empathy.”

“I just want to give a shoutout to CWU in this pandemic! Even with the violence against Asians happening around the country, I feel very safe here,” Xu says. “I want to say: thank you Central!”

Instead of waiting for hateful incidents to occur, education and advocacy about racism against Asians and Asian-Americans is necessary.

“I just want to give a shoutout to CWU in this pandemic! Even with the violence against Asians happening around the country, I feel very safe here.”

Turning a new leaf: The realities of having a marijuana conviction

Story by Spencer Clifton | Photos by Casey Rothgeb Design by Grace Winter

Imagine you are stranded in the ocean, with nothing but a weighted vest strapped to your chest. You can see land off in the distance and ashore is everything that you deem essential to having a comfortable and stable life. The pursuit of higher education. A good job. A nice house.

As you frantically try to get to land off in the distance the weighted vest pulls you down, making it nearly impossible to even keep your head above water, let alone get to shore.

The overwhelming magnitude of the task to get ashore that looms before you combined with the heavy weighted vest may make this task seem impossible. This scenario can be what it feels like to navigate through the difficulties of having a marijuana conviction while achieving life goals.

The Different Experiences In 2018, there were a total of 700,000 marijuana-related arrests made in America, according to a report done by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

While not every arrest leads to an incarceration sentence, the experiences for the individuals that follow with their criminal sentencing can be vastly different from each other.

Evelyn LaChapelle, reentry coordinator for Last Prisoner Project (LPP) and former inmate who was incarcerated for a criminal marijuana offense, explains she served a five year prison sentence for depositing funds from an illegal marijuana operation into her bank account. She adds that because these funds were coming from North Carolina, a state where marijuana is still recreationally illegal, she was tried out of that state instead of her home state of California.

Her time in prison was a difficult transition that she never really became accustomed to. “There are the days where you have mastered cutting off from the outside world where you don’t think about it and you have adapted to your surroundings,” says LaChapelle. “On the days where you wake up and you’re thinking about your child or your mom, … those days are unbearable. It is those days that teach you how to cut off from the outside world. I did five years of those days.”

While the emotional weight of LaChapelle’s experience in prison was heavy for her, she adds that others face a varying degree of different experiences.

“I was driving home late at night, like two or three in the morning. A cop pulled me over cause I had expired tabs and then he said, ‘what’s up with the weed smell,’” says Carson Jones-Knapp, senior clinical physiology major. “I did not want to get in more trouble, so I just grabbed out the kush from the glovebox and was like ‘here dude.’”

Jones-Knapp explains that he was then charged with a Minor in Possession (MIP) in 2017 while residing in Washington where recreational marijuana was legal. He mentions he was court ordered to pay a 750 dollar fee along with a few other responsibilities.

“I had a year of probation, I had to pass a drug test, I had to do an eight hour drug class in person, and I had to check in with my probation officer every Wednesday for the whole year,” he says.

The severity of one’s experience ultimately is determined on who is handling your case, according to LaChapelle. “It really depends on who picked up your case: the state or the feds. With the feds you will typically receive a harsher sentence and it is less likely that sentence will be reduced.”

Other factors such as the type of drug charge and the state that you are charged in, may also play a vital role in determining someone’s experience being charged with a criminal marijuana offense. Unfortunately for many, the turmoil does not stop here as individuals with a criminal marijuana charge may endure more challenges as time goes on.

The Aftermath “A marijuana arrest and conviction subjects individuals to life-altering collateral consequences and stigmatization that cause them more harm than marijuana ever could,” says Violet Cavendish, communications manager for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). “ It creates difficulties for those affected, [from a] secure a job, access [to] affordable housing and government benefits and pursue higher education.”

LaChapelle claims she experienced a number of these difficulties when being released from incarceration. She explains while working a job for the hotel resort Omni, a co-worker googled her name and found her previous criminal record. She was later fired because of this incident.

“I think most Americans think when someone gets out of jail it is their opportunity to build something and they need to get the work done. I came home completely ready to get the work done and put my best foot forward, but I was not met with that sort of reception,” says LaChapelle.

Carly Wolf, state policies coordinator for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), reinforces that the easily accessible criminal information of individuals can cause problems for them in the workplace. “A marijuana arrest and conviction can often leave an individual with a record that can easily be accessed by employers, schools, landlords, etc.”

LaChapelle says her experiences led to her current position as reentry coordinator with the LPP, working to create opportunities for other people with a marijuana criminal record to get a job and achieve financial stability after incarceration.

“Right now we have programs where they can work on their resume and get their resume checked and edited,” says LaChapelle. “We are participating in a job fair. What I think needs to be done after job placement however, is housing assistance and financial literacy because nobody is happy until they have a safe place to live.”

While these services are helpful in aiding people with a marijuana conviction, The NORML and MPP are working on reforming marijuana policies at the state level to bring criminal justice to those who suffer from marijuana convictions.

Working Towards Reform “I see legislation ranging from full legalization and regulation, to protecting consumers from losing their jobs for legal marijuana use, to implementing and expanding medical marijuana access,” says Wolf.

Changing these policies and legalizing marijuana at the state level is a tactic that Cavendish says will help prevent further marijuana convictions.

“Cannabis legalization is only one aspect of broader criminal justice policy reform, but it is necessary,” says Cavendish. “Legalization dramatically reduces arrests for cannabis related-offenses, removes the number one pretext for thousands of police stops, searches, and seizures and offers an opportunity to reform policing.”

While changing state level policies help individuals who were charged by their respected state, LaChapelle explains how this is a different story for those who have been tried at the federal level. “Sadly enough one of the major problems is if you are a federal inmate, clemency can only come through a pardon, that can only come from the president of the United States.”

According to the Center for American Progress, “Clemency is a mechanism for granting a person convicted of a criminal offense relief from a court-ordered sentence or punitive measure.” The website also notes that this can occur by a pardon or “commutation of sentence.”

The fight for criminal justice does not stop at preventing arrests and releasing incarcerated inmates, as many individuals may have that charge following them on their record for a lifetime.

“The main piece directly related to criminal justice is automatic expungement, when someone is able to automatically get their conviction record wiped clean,” says Wolf.

According to the Congressional Research Service, The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2019, a bill that has recently been introduced, is one of the latest of efforts in helping expunge criminal marijuana offenses on the federal level.

Cavendish explains that it is bills like these that will not only achieve criminal justice, but also racial justice as well.

Racial Disparity According to that same report by the ACLU, Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) are 3.64 times more likely to get arrested for a marijuana offense than a Caucasian individual, despite usage rates that are about the same across ethnicities.

“To ignore the race is almost like ignoring the truth,” says LaChapelle.

According to Cavendish, racial disparities in marijuana arrests and prosecution is something that has been going on for quite some time in America.

“Marijuana prohibition is used as a tool to criminalize Black Americans,” she says. “Decades of arresting and prosecuting people for marijuana possession has a dramatically disproportionate impact on communities of color.”

Wolf explains that because Black Americans experience this at a higher rate than White Americans, that they also experience the hardships that follow them at a higher rate as well. Solutions to this problem can be found in policy reform, legalization and criminal expungement.

“Expungement of past cannabis offenses and reinvestment into communities that have been disproportionately harmed by prohibition are also imperative to achieve criminal and racial justice,” explains Cavendish.

While these injustices have affected many individuals over long periods of time, the fight for criminal and racial justice continues to wage on today.

PULSE PERSPECTIVES

Contributions by PULSE Staff | Design by Sara Roach The PULSE staff has spent the past few weeks perfecting this social justice-themed issue for release. Throughout this process many have reflected on their time learning about social justice and have answered what the term means to them.

This issue of PULSE about social justice has showed me that there are so many social justice issues across our country that don’t get enough attention. Our generation has a duty and a responsibility to be and voice and make a change for these issues. - Allison Clowers

This issue of PULSE has opened my eyes to how important it is to be educated on all aspects social justice. Meeting and getting to know new individuals and hearing their stories pertaining to social justice really made me prioritize creating a safe and equal space for everyone around me. - Lexi Wicks To me, social justice means fighting against prejudices toward a world with equality where anyone from any identity can feel safe and succeed in their lives. - Kim Nguyen

I have learned so much about social justice by speaking to people who have experienced discrimination firsthand. They told me how they dealt with it, how others should and what we can do to end that type of behavior. It's overwhelming and upsetting to think that people have to go through discrimination whether it's what they identify as, their sexuality or their race. After this quarter, I feel like I had my eyes opened by people I interviewed and spoke to because they shared with me their own personal stories. It makes me feel like I can now be a better ally to people who need allies. - Samantha Cabeza

This has been such a rewarding issue to be a part of. These stories cover topics that my peers and I are very passionate about, and I am so glad that we could highlight these issues through our magazine.

It has shown me how wide the horizons of social justice can reach, and how many stories still have yet to be told. Through all of the Zoom calls, the late night emails and everything in between, its been a such an enjoyable journey bringing this new issue to life. - Sara Roach

Social justice to me entails helping others and doing what's right, even when no one is watching. There are good people in the world who care about others who may have been unfairly treated by society. - Taylor Johnson

I thought I knew what social justice meant. As it turns out I was wrong. This issue has caused me to think more deeply about the injustices people face everyday.

The argument isn't simply about race. It includes discrimination against the type of career you have, the way you dress, and so much more.

Now more than ever we need to be alert of the oppression others face and if we are the cause of it, we need to change our thinking and stand up for equality in all walks of life. - Kassandra Eller

To me, social justice means means recognizing my privilege and using it to elevate the voices of those less privileged than I am. It means the equal treatment of everyone regardless of skin color, race, and economic status.

I may be Mexican, but I am also white. My skin is white and because of this, I don't face the same unequal treatment that black and brown people do. Social justice means using my white privilege to do my part in leveling the playing field for everyone. - Itzel Montoya

Growing up, social justice was always something that I felt was already achieved for multiple issues I learned still wage on today.

Aside from learning about the vastly different methods to solve these issues, the importance of social justice in different communities around the world is pertinent for humanity to flourish. Social justice can be a sensitive topic. However, it is not something we can just avoid and ignore.

As long as we are at least talking about social justice and sharing ideas, I think we are taking a step in the right direction. - Spencer Clifton

Thank you for taking time to learn from our diligent reporters, photographers and designers about how social justice shapes the lives of the CWU community. To view more exclusive content related to this issue, visit cwupulsemagazine.com!

Photo by Lexi Wicks