When police respond to
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‘We still have a duty to act to protect them from themselves and to protect society from them’ BY BRENDA SCHORY
Photos by Sandy Bressner – sbressner@shawmedia.com Campton Hills Police Officer Scott Coryell feels added pressure on police to respond to mental health crises, including suicide and suicide by cop incidents.
opportunity are generally the first time people become involved with police and incarceration, Hain said. “Of course, sometimes those are co-existing but those three pathways are going to be the primary pathway into our custody,” Hain said. Toward that end of assisting people in crisis, Hain’s office now has a social worker on staff five days a week and available for emergency calls, including crisis intervention for mental health and substance abuse. New within the Kane County Jail are pods – another name for cellblocks – specifically for detainees with mental health and addiction problems. The sheriff’s office has contracted with psychologists, social workers and addiction specialists from Lighthouse Recovery to assist detainees. There also is a Recovery Pod because of the propensity for mental illness and addiction to be co-occurring, Hain said. “That intensive addiction treatment from Lighthouse Recovery is not just getting away from their drug of choice, it’s digging in and identifying the trauma that makes them go back to drugs for relief,” Hain said. In 2020, about 280 detainees went through the Recovery and
Mental Health pods, Hain said, and 22 corrections officers received certification as mental health officers because they are with detainees 24 hours a day. “I wanted them to have that elevated understanding,” Hain said. Hain also set up a reentry plan with mental health support through Ecker Center for Mental Health on the county’s north side and Association for Individual Development on the south side, Hain said, for when detainees are released. “We obviously make sure they make the reentry,” Hain said. “Lighthouse continues addiction counseling free to them. Even when they leave us, that continues. And all these programs are costing taxpayers zero dollars.” Hain instituted additional job training services at the jail, and connects detainees to jobs, further assisting them on their release to live sober, have a means of support and to stay out of the criminal justice system. “And this is the toughest on crime anyone has ever been,” Hain said. “I’m soft on people.” In the Kane County Sheriff’s Office’s 2020 annual report, Hain wrote: Continued on page 23
Shaw Media • Thursday-Friday, August 26-27, 2021
away. We still have a duty to act to protect them from themselves and to protect society from them.” Campton Hills police officer If a person in the throes of a Scott Coryell remembers a time mental health crisis does not want in the 1990s when he worked for to receive service, it can’t be forced Bensenville and they were called to on them if they’re not a danger to search the woods for a woman who themselves or others – the hospital was a possible suicide. will have to release them, he said. “She packs a few little things, “Every person I’ve ever seen, leaves the house and walks up to on the second or third trip to the the forest preserve and the kids are hospital, they know what’s going like, ‘What is going on?’ ” Coryell to happen. They’re shaking their said. “We find her that day. And head, ‘I don’t wanna go. I don’t we get her into a hospital and wanna go. I know what’s going treatment.” to happen.’ They’re going to be A couple of weeks later, he learned she later committed suicide locked down for a day or two or three, and they learn to stop on her second attempt. talking,” Coryell said. “You sit there and go, ‘What “If you go back 100 years, we more could we have done?’ You didn’t give people that choice,” realize that at some point it stops Coryell said. “We used to have 12 being my ability to do anything,” [state] mental institutions in Illinois, Coryell said. and now we have seven or less. Before coming to Campton Hills, What do we exchange that for? Coryell worked for the St. Charles Prison.” Police Department for nearly 20 years. RESPONDING TO “Toward the end of my career there, we were doing more MENTAL HEALTH CRISES mental health than anything else,” While police increasingly are Coryell said. “Are they a danger asked to respond to people to themselves or others? We as suffering mental health crises, Kane police officers, we can’t just walk County Sheriff Ron Hain and local police departments, such as St. Charles, North Aurora and Geneva, now have social workers on staff. Hain and Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser have taken steps to address the issues by assisting people suffering mental health crises rather than jailing or releasing them without support. This spring, Mosser received Kane County Board support to establish a Mental Health Unit to be staffed by attorneys at the AMITA Health Mercy Medical Center in Aurora and at Elgin Mental Health. This was to facilitate medication petitions for people in the hospital so they would get treatment rather than just be released “right back Charles Taylor – now a former Kane into the criminal justice system County jail detainee – speaks to because we are not treating them.” community members during a tour. The intersection of mental health Sheriff Ron Hain established a three-floor residential treatment facility in previously issues with drug addiction – usually unused space at the jail. self-medicating – and lack of
OPIOID & MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS |
MENTAL HEALTH CRISES CALLS
