“Once you know one person with autism, you know one person with autism. No two of them are the same. So this gives officers kind of the view on the spectrum of autism, what their behaviors can look like in a crisis, and that it’s not necessarily malicious or the intent is to hurt themselves or others, but how can they de-escalate the situation on scene and help this person get to safety,” Turner says.
The Richland County Sheriff’s Department held its annual crisis intervention training for Richland County’s school resource officers. The annual event is sponsored by the South Carolina Department of Mental Health and certified through the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, 3-5 million children in the United States have a mental illness.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — Advocates say far too often you only hear about mental illness when an act of violence is committed. Wednesday at the South Carolina State House the point was made that only 6% of those with mental illness have violent tendencies. That means 94% of the mentally ill do not have violent tendencies. Advocates say in comparison…
