Just weeks ago, 39-year-old Kelley Syphers was suicidal. Syphers, who was recently released from the hospital, told the Emerald she found herself in the same situation many face when in mental crises: dealing with the police.
But her confrontation with the Eugene Police Department only escalated her negative emotions, Syphers said.
“I was talking with them, and told them to get back, but they kept coming,” Syphers said, who believes there should be more help available for people in her situation, as well as more training for police.

Because this experience is so common, EPD is set to begin training officers under a Crisis Intervention Team program. The new program will teach officers effective ways to deal with people who are in mental crises.
Training for the first 20 officers will begin Dec. 15.
Because of a lack of mental health services, officers often respond first to people who are suicidal and those who are experiencing mental crises, said Vice Chair of the Police Commission Joe Alsup, who was head of the commission’s Mental Health Crisis Response Committee. According to a report presented by the committee, EPD generally responds to at least one suicidal person every day.
Syphers, who lives in Springfield, said she is all for the CIT program.
“I think it needs to be everywhere,” she said.
Alsup decided to join the commission in the aftermath of the death of Ryan Salisbury, a suicidal 19-year-old whom police shot as he approached them with a knife. Motivated to take a step forward and examine ways to provide training and resources to officers who face people in mental crises, Alsup said more options needed to be examined and created for officers.
“The only options officers face are releasing the person back onto the street or locking them up in jail,” Alsup said. “Officers hate locking someone up who is in a mental crisis.”
Alsup said the CIT program equips officers with skills to approach a potentially violent situation in a nonviolent way. In their 40 hours of training, officers will learn techniques to show people experiencing mental crises that they are there to help them, he said.
When individuals are experiencing a mental crisis or a psychotic break, they are often unresponsive to traditional police approaches, Alsup said. American Civil Liberties of Oregon representative Claire Syrett said standard “command and control” police protocol is often the wrong way to approach a person in a mental crisis. These methods often scare the person, she said, and can make the situation worse and more violent.
Syrett said the ACLU views the CIT program as a great development for the department. “A basic ACLU viewpoint is anytime we can improve safety for officers and the community, we are doing the right thing,” she said.
Part of the CIT program training will teach officers to move people experiencing a mental crisis into the “here and now,” Alsup said. Specific de-escalation techniques Alsup mentioned include frequently using the person’s name, making eye contact, creating conversation that is not confrontational, and presenting a “supportive, not punitive, approach.”
Alsup said the CIT program intends to have a trained officer deployed during any time frame. Participation in the CIT program is voluntary, but Alsup anticipates about 80 percent of the department to volunteer for the training. He said the skills developed by those who undergo the training will be an asset to all officers.
Syrett said she believes the University community will benefit from the program because many students encounter stress and mental health issues. According to the University Counseling and Testing Center’s Web site, suicide is the second-leading cause of death for college students.
Alsup also said Kevin Williams, the University’s Department of Public Safety director, has shown great interest in providing more mental health training for DPS officers.
The CIT program will also work with mental health organizations from around the community, Alsup said. Creating a place to take those who are in a mental crisis is a problem that has yet to be solved, he said.
Alsup commended the efforts of mental health organizations such as White Bird, Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets, and Lane County Mental Health for their ongoing efforts and support of the CIT program. CAHOOTS services are dispatched from the city’s 911 center, and, according to its Web site, are available for non-criminal crises, including mental illness.
Organizations such as CAHOOTS, Alsup explained, help avoid the criminalization of the mentally ill.
“People at CAHOOTS are some of the angels among us,” he said.
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