Community Currents

San Rafael Psychologist Polices the Streets

An officer teaches other police officers how to effectively deal with the mentally impaired

By Phyllis Hayes, Contributing Writer

Earlier this year, two mentally impaired men suffering psychotic episodes, Jeremiah Chass[1] of Sebastopol, California, and Richard
Desantis[2] of Santa Rosa, California, were both killed by police officers. If either of them had had the good fortune to be in San Rafael, California, in their last minutes of life, the outcome may have been drastically different due to an innovative crisis intervention program headed by Joel Fay, a police officer with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.

San Rafael is known primarily for its affluence, urbane chic, and progressive politics, not for the homeless mentally ill who troll the downtown area, along B Street or around St. Vincent's dining hall. But it is here that Officer Fay has become a familiar figure. "In L.A., there was never a chance to develop a relationship with individuals you arrested or met on the streets. Here, you actually get to know them, and then it becomes a question of 'How can I help them and what can I do to make a difference?'"

Officer Fay strikes that perfect balance between affability and authority, but, like many officers, he is not immune to cynicism. "I think I was jaded for awhile. I felt, 'Yeah, let's just throw these people in jail.'" Yet, as he got older and had his own family, his cynicism faded after he began talking to the parents of the mentally ill people he dealt with. "I know this sounds naive, but you begin to think, 'Wow, these people are connected to families, and there is someone who loves this person,' and that starts changing your perspective."

There would be others along the way who gradually reinforced Fay's belief that he could make a difference in people's lives. He recalls one homeless man who had been on the streets for more than 18 years. "When I first started working with John, he was so psychotic, and one day I asked him if he wanted a shower. He jumped up and said 'Yes!' and got into the back of my car. Years later, I asked John why he wanted to get in the car with me that particular day. He said that he had never had an officer offer him something like that. He didn't know why I wanted to be his friend, but he said it was too good of an opportunity to turn down. As psychotic as he was, he was able to make that distinction."

After one particular domestic violence incident, Officer Fay took the time to converse with a mentally ill woman. "I don't remember what I said, but we talked about life. A few years later, she came up to me on the street - I wouldn't have recognized her - but she said, 'That conversation changed my life,' and it was in that moment I realized you had that power to come in and intervene in someone's life and maybe you can help them."

Officer Fay was also pursuing his Ph.D. in clinical psychology during this period while working full-time. His hands-on experience gave him exceptional insight into what could be done in terms of helping the mentally impaired. With the support of the San Rafael Police Department, he founded Crisis Intervention Training (CIT), in which police officers receive 36 hours of training in dealing with the mentally ill.

"I teach portions of the classes. I have a lot of different speakers who go in: families do a panel, clients do a panel, people from the mental health community do a panel - we offer a lot of information about how to work with the mentally ill. There are tactics and different kinds of language if you're dealing with them and they're psychotic, and how you can intervene in a psychotic episode and get along with force."

The idea is that, if there is a CIT officer available, he/she would be dispatched to all of the "5150" calls, involving persons believed to be in need of involuntary psychiatric treatment. The purpose is twofold: It gives the CIT officer more experience, and it also gives him/her a chance to get to know the clients better. Although the CIT program is very valuable, it is not mandatory, and the 20% of officers who have volunteered to train may not always be available during a crisis due to officers leaving the force, changing shifts, or moving off the beat to do investigative work.

The unavailability of a trained officer can cause a major problem, especially if a mentally ill person has become violent. Sometimes, despite an officer's best effort, the scenario results in death, as was the case at the Metreon Theatre in San Francisco in 2001, where Idriss Stelley, wielding a knife and having a mental breakdown, was shot multiple times by the police. It is a grave reminder that, sometimes, a psychotic person can be violently unpredictable, and when that happens, officers are limited in their response.

Nevertheless, if the tactics taught by the CIT officers were implemented by police departments nationwide, it would increase the prospect of defusing potentially life-threatening situations. "One of the techniques I teach officers is to tell people 'I want to treat you with as much respect as you will allow me. Will you come peacefully with me to the crisis unit?' If you can't communicate with them, then you don't have a lot of options."

The idea of pursuing a career in anything other than police work has never entered Joel Fay's mind. He says, "I love to do police work, and it has allowed me to help people. I still like going out there in a crisis and developing a plan. I like the challenge when people come to me and say, 'We have an impossible case, and we don't think anything can be done to help this person.' I like the opportunity to come in and say, 'Let's see what we can do with this.'"

When reminiscing on his career, Officer Fay succinctly sums up: "I got lucky. There are a lot of police departments that wouldn't allow me to do this type of police work, but San Rafael said, 'We want you to keep doing this.'" We hope that more police departments will follow Dr. Joel and San Rafael’s lead.

PWDF Profile

Who We Are

People With Disabilities Foundation is an operating
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California, which focuses on the rights of the mentally disabled.

Services

Advocacy: PWDF advocates for Social Security claimant's disability benefits in eight Bay Area counties. We also provide services in disability rights, on issues regarding returning to work, and in ADA consultations, including areas of employment, health care, and education, among others. There is representation before all levels of federal court and Administrative Law Judges. No one is declined due to their inability to pay, and we offer a sliding scale for attorney's fees.

Education/Public Awareness: To help eliminate the stigma against people with mental disabilities in society, PWDF's educational program organizes workshops and public seminars, provides guest speakers with backgrounds in mental health, and produces

Education/Public Awareness: To help eliminate the stigma against people with mental disabilities in society, PWDF's educational program organizes workshops and public seminars, provides guest speakers with backgrounds in mental health, and produces educational materials such as training videos with an audience of Human Resource managers and Vocational Rehabilitation counselors.

Continuing Education Provider: State Bar of California MCLE, California Board of Behavioral Sciences Continuing Education, and Commission of Rehabilitation Counselor Certification.