What mentally ill subjects want cops to know

As part of an extensive training video on successfully communicating with difficult subjects, a Force Science Institute team led by executive director Dr. Bill Lewinski recently interviewed mental patients regarding their encounters with police in crisis situations.

"What would these subjects most want officers to know about relating to them?" the team asked. "From the perspective of a person in emotional turmoil, what fundamental attitudes and behaviors by the police are most likely to defuse a volatile situation and keep it from escalating into violence?"

1.) Understand Us. To establish effective communication, you need first of all to appreciate what the subject is going through and what hidden forces may be influencing his or her behavior.

2.) Respect Us. Such questions can help convey the impression the subjects seem most to desire from the police: the sense that you “actually care” about them and what they are experiencing.



3.) Calm Us. Telling a highly agitated subject to calm down “will be totally ineffective,” Liz observes. To encourage communication and cooperation, you need to model calmness and control and to understand what’s likely to be settling or disturbing to a mentally troubled individual.



The non-profit The Force Science Research Center (FSRC) was launched in 2004 by Executive Director Bill Lewinski, PhD. - a specialist in police psychology -- to conduct unique lethal-force experiments. 

For more information, visit www.forcescience.org or e-mail info@forcescience.org. If you would benefit from receiving updates on the FSRC's findings as well as a variety of other use-of-force related articles, please visit www.forcesciencenews.com

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