Six minute CODE Trailer from NAMI, TN from Dixie Gamble on Vimeo.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness Tennessee has created a training film specifically aimed at correctional officers. It is called CODE, an acronym for Correctional Officers De-escalation Education. Filmmaker Dixie Gamble gained unprecedented access to the Tennessee state prison system where she interviewed inmates and correctional officers. She also spoke to me and numerous mental health experts including LEAP Institute’s Dr. Xavier Amador, NAMI’s Ron Honberg and Dr. Ken Duckworth, and CIT Expert Sam Cochran. The film is narrated by Steve Lopez, author of the best-selling book that inspired the film The Soloist.

NAMI Tennessee Executive Director K. Jeff Fladen announced that the World Premier for CODE will be held Thursday, June 18th, at the Belcourt Theater in Nashville at 7:30 p.m.. Tickets are $15 and will be used to help defray the cost of the film. CODE also will be shown at this year’s NAMI Convention in San Francisco on July 8th. I will be in the audience for that event.

We know that Crisis Intervention Team training has revolutionized how police departments interact with individuals who are in the midst of a psychotic break. Now, CODE offers us training specifically aimed at Correctional Officers. Given that jails and prisons have become our new mental asylums, this is an important film. Please circulate the trailer, make your local correctional departments aware of CODE and spread the word.

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Mental Illness Crisis at 35,000 Feet

By Gabe Howard

When I saw the young woman reach for the cockpit door on a recent cross-country flight, I knew there was going to be trouble.

 A few moments earlier, I had watched her come down the aisle to use the lavatory at the rear of the aircraft near where I was sitting. She tried to open its door but couldn’t. She tried again.

 A flight attendant noticed and told her the bathroom was occupied and that she would need to wait her turn.

 The woman insisted the door was just stuck and kept struggling with it.

 I was sitting close enough to see the woman’s eyes and what I saw troubled me.  Total anxiety. The fear and confusion radiating off her was as clear as day to me because I had experienced panic and anxiety attacks.

 The flight attendant suggested she try the rest room in the front of the aircraft. The woman started to cry, gasp for air, and whimper unintelligibly, as she returned up the aisle.

Mental Illness can cause confusion.  This confusion, coupled with desperation and fear, can lead to frightening outcomes. When she reached the front, she started to grab various handles in an attempt to gain entry to the bathroom. One of those handles was the cockpit door.

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If you live in the Fairfax County area, please join me Tuesday night for an informal talk about RESILIENCE, the book that I helped Jessie Close write about her struggles with addiction and bi-polar disorder.

Restraint Chair Similar To One Used At Jail

A 27 year-old man, who we will call Charles, was trying to kill himself when workers at the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute in Falls Church intervened. He began hitting them. The state police were called and Charles was taken from the residential treatment center to the jail, charged with five counts of misdemeanor simple assault.

This is the same Fairfax detention center where Natasha McKenna, a 37 year-old woman with schizophrenia died after being shot with a 50,000 volt taser four times while in shackles with her head hooded.

Charles was booked into jail on April 28^th. He had a long history of suicide attempts.

Two days later, April 30^th, Charles began hitting his head against the cell wall. He was put into a padded cell and then strapped into a restraint chair.

On May 1^st, deputies decided he was calm enough to move him into a single cell, but Charles began threatening suicide and so on May 2^nd, he was put back in the restraint chair. On May 3^rd, he was calm enough to return to his cell.

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Green Door, a Washington D.C. mental health organization, honored Kevin and me last week at its fund-raising gala. During his four-minute acceptance speech, Kevin became emotional as he described his remarkable journey to recovery. I remember a time when my son, who was called Mike in my book, was shot by the police with a taser, hogtied, and taken to a mental health center. I wondered if this would be our future. Fortunately, Kevin finally got the help that he needed to succeed and now is doing well working as a peer-to-peer specialist.

When Kevin was at his sickest, I was grateful to individuals with mental illnesses who were brave enough to tell their stories. Many gave me hope. I am now thrilled and proud that Kevin is one of those story tellers.

A few days after the gala, Kevin participated in the National Alliance on Mental Illness’s  31 Days, 31 Stories — Stepping Up Initiative.

Thank you Kevin for fighting stigma by speaking so passionately in public. It is, indeed, an incredible journey that we are on together.

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5-13-15   The Washington Post has published several editorials criticizing Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey A. Kincaid because of the death of Natasha McKenna, a 37 year-old woman with schizophrenia who died shorty after being shot with a taser four times while being held in the county detention center. Her death is still being investigated by the Fairfax Police Department.

I met with Sheriff Kincaid recently and she gave me a copy of a written response that she had submitted to the Post after it published two editorials. The paper declined to publish her letter. Here is her response to the Post.

THE SHERIFF RESPONDS

By Sheriff Stacey A. Kincaid

It’s not every day the Editorial Page actually makes news instead of simply commenting on it, but the Post has managed to do that with its call (April 22) for civil disobedience to replace the justice system and attempt to prejudice the process of an active, independent legal investigation. In your editorial, “The Outrageous Death of a Fairfax County Inmate” (April 14), you demand immediate accountability, transparency and action in response to the incident in advance of the completion of an investigation by the Police Department, and any ultimate decision by the Commonwealth Attorney. You also accuse me, in particular, of withholding information. I must respond because I know justice ultimately will be done in this case, and also in the interest of journalistic fairness. There also is a teachable moment here, not only for those of us who have dedicated our lives to law enforcement but also for members of the community who believe in dignity and fairness for those who come into contact with the criminal justice system.

 

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