Today at the Police Training Academy in Belmopan, police and Coast Guard officers participated in an all-day workshop discussing mental health and wellness.
The organization known as the Belize Brain Awareness Society wants to help these officers learn how to better cope with the the intense stress that comes with the job, as well as any trauma caused by the dangers of being a member of law enforcement.
Additionally, the hope is that these officers will be better equipped to properly handle civilians suffering from mental illness, who also come in contact with the law.
Well, these officers were taking instruction today from Dr. Kendra Carter, a Belizean-American from California who specializes in mental health. We got a chance to speak with the organizer and Dr. Carter, and here's what they told us about the lessons being shared with the cops:
Kaylia Nunez - Founder, Belize Brain Awareness Society
"Very recently, we have been noticing a lot of mental cases, and we just want to help the officers to be better equipped, and more knowledgeable of how it is that they should proceed with this process."
Reporter
"What are some of the major themes that you hope the officers take away?"
Dr. Kendra Flores-Carter - Mental Health Expert
"Well, I'm hoping that they kinda get some key knowledge about what mental health is, and what mental illness is, and how to take care of themselves. One of the things we're gonna go over is vicarious trauma, secondary trauma. And it will talk about the triggers that police officers can have, that kinda puts them at risk to experience some psychological issues themselves, once they experience a crisis situation, such as maybe someone being murdered, or one of their colleagues being murdered, things like. So, we'll address that. We're also going to be learning about some signs and symptoms, just to give them a background of what mental health is. So, we'll be going over what depression looks like, what schizophrenia looks like, what anxiety look. And so we'll be addressing like. We'll talk a little bit about criteria for people to be on psychiatric holds, criteria for people to be hospitalized, and so that they kind of know the difference between whether or not a person should go maybe to jail, or whether or not a person should go and seek psychiatric help."
"Oftentimes, people go directly to jail, but if someone is insane, and they lack the capacity to really make decisions that are logical. We have to then understand that putting them in jail is not gonna solve their mental health issues. We have to kind of figure out what is going on with them. And sometimes, people who are mentally ill commit crimes because they are not sane enough to understand that what they're doing is a crime."
During the training, the officers examined some of the recent cases that have made national news, where mental illness was a factor.
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