The Weekly Snapshot

Your source for the latest tips, information, and current campus safety resources from the National Center.

From the Road: TISA Pilot Training Program at Virginia Commonwealth University

Tuesday was the first day of our pilot training program for campus officials on Trauma-Informed Sexual Assault Investigations and Adjudications (TISA) at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. We have over 40 participants in attendance - student conduct, education and advocacy services, counseling services, residential life, administrative investigations, campus public safety, law enforcement, dean of students office, attorney general's office, and more. The TISA training runs through Friday this week and includes speakers such as Steven J. Healy, Managing Partner of Margolis Healy and Chair of the National Center for Campus Public Safety's Advisory Board, Jeffrey Nolan, Esq., Chief Thomas Tremblay (Ret), and other experts in the field.

More information on our TISA training program is available on our Training and Technical Assistance webpage. If you're on Twitter, look for the TISA pilot training program hashtag this week: #TISAtrainingVCU.

Officer Response to People with Mental Illnesses: Resources

As a follow-up to our article two weeks ago on Officer Response to People with Mental Illnesses that focused on training, we have compiled some resources in our website library to assist you in establishing, maintaining or coordinating response programs. Two of the most common law enforcement-based specialized response programs are the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model, which trains sworn officers to provide crisis intervention services and act as liaisons to the formal mental health system, and the co-responder model, which partners mental health professionals with law enforcement at the scene to provide consultation on mental health-related issues and assist individuals in accessing treatments and supports. If you are interested in additional information on law enforcement-based specialized response programs, please contact us.

In addition to the resources listed on our website , you may find the following to be helpful:

Responding to Persons Affected by Mental Illness or in Crisis - a model policy developed by the IACP National Law Enforcement Policy Center and published in January, 2014.
Brief Mental Health Screener (BMHS) - Highlighted in the article Simple form helps officers expedite mental illness calls recently published by PoliceOne.com, the BMHS is a one-page checklist of various "mental state indicators and behaviors" designed to help street officers better communicate with medical staff. The BMHS was primarily developed by Ron Hoffman, PhD, a former Toronto constable who now serves as coordinator of mental health training at the Ontario (Canada) Police College. Contact Ron Hoffman to request a copy of the BMHS and permission to reproduce it for your agency.
Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT) Partners - A list of CIT partner organizations provided by the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Officer Response to People With Mental Illnesses Training Survey

In our efforts to identify the training and resource needs of the campus public safety community, we invite you to take our short Officer Response to People With Mental Illnesses Training Survey. Your responses will assist us in providing programs and materials that will best meet your needs.

Professional Development Opportunities

Title: Full Active Shooter Training (FAST)

Host:Kilo 1 Applications Group

Dates: November 25, 2014

Location: Walpole, MA

Fee: Tuition Fee
Information and Registration: Email Major Rich Kuong or call 781-223-3979

Title: Law Enforcement & Security's Role in Crisis Events

Host: Rhodes State College

Dates: December 2, 2014 (registration deadline, November 24)

Location: Kent, OH

Fee: Registration Fee
Information and Registration: Email Mike Webber or call 419-348-9612

This project was supported by Grant No. 2013-MU-BX-K011 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice.