Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: JULY 2016 25 The National Alliance on Mental illness (NAMI) has released a guide for law en- forcement leaders – Preparing for the Unimaginable – to help police departments prepare for mass casualty events and support emotional resiliency for first-responders and their communities. NAMI developed the guide at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Chief Michael Kehoe (Ret.) of the New- town, Conn. Police Depart- ment, following the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy in 2012. “The guide will provide chiefs and sheriffs with awareness and guidance on best practices for safeguard- ing mental health and well- ness of first responders in the early moments of critical events and during the long aftermath,” Chief Kehoe wrote in the foreword to the guide. You can download the guide at www.nami.org/ cops. Law enforcement offi- cials and mental health pro- fessionals involved in the guide’s development agree that the likelihood of a mass casualty event in any com- munity actually is low — but that preparation is essential in case the unimaginable ever does occur like it did in Sandy Hook, Columbine, San Bernadino, Virginia Tech, and many other plac- es. “Mental wellness is impor- tant regardless of whether or not a mass casualty event ever occurs. Police officers also face mental health is- sues in their everyday work,” a NAMI official said. “For all police departments, a key challenge is to eliminate stigma from seeking help for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other problems.” NAMI is the nation’s larg- est grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for mil- lions of Americans affected by mental illness. Free resource for cops on emotional resiliency I n New York City, lawmakers are about to implement a se- ries of criminal justice reforms that will be wildly unpopular with law enforcement officials and associations. New policies will reduce punishments for low-level offenses such as littering and urinating in public. Much like Prop. 47 in Cali- fornia and similar legislation passed or being passed na- tionwide, the plan is to re- duce massively overloaded and overcrowded courts and prisons. The Criminal Justice Re- form Act is likely to go over about as well in law enforcement circles on the East Coast as it did on the West Coast. In addition to reducing penalties for minor offenses, the legislation also seeks to unburden criminal courts by sending more low level offenders (open container for instance) to civil court. Public urination and some offenses in public parks are slated to be downgraded from misdemeanors to “vio- lations,” with reduced jail time for such offenses from as many as 90 days to just one day. City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito told reporters that she thinks the criminal justice package is a done deal. “For too long, New York’s criminal justice system has been broken – it’s time we fix it,” Mark-Viverito, a Democrat, said in a state- ment. “The Criminal Justice Reform Act is going to con- tinue to keep New Yorkers safe while also creating a more fair and just system that will ensure the penalties fit the crime.” Supporters of the changes say the plan will divert more than 100,000 cases from the criminal court system every year and cut warrants down by 50,000. It will also prevent nearly 10,000 people annually from having permanent criminal records. NYC has about 8.5 million residents and 1.5 million open warrants. The proposal is backed officially by the NYPD and Commissioner Bill Bratton but is likely going to be met with massive resistance from the five NYPD police unions and other groups. De Blasio, not the most popular guy among the NYPD, had his people work- ing with NYPD personnel negotiating the legislation. Much like the issue of marijuana decriminaliza- tion, the police community and the larger society seem to be increasingly at odds on public safety issues. With more than eight million people in New York City and almost no public bathrooms, there’s more than a little public urination. The question is what the consequences should be. Police don’t like it