MANSFIELD – Real and fake blended together as Mansfield police officers took the stage in the Mansfield Playhouse during a final test in their Crisis Intervention Team training.
The training was in partnership with the National Alliance on Mental Illness, taking place over the past week for the 37th time. In the final test, officers took the stage with actors from the Mansfield Playhouse and act out fully improvised scenes.
It’s volunteer work for the actors, optional for the officers.
“They volunteer their time and dedicate it because it means something to them,” said Aubrie Hall, the executive director of NAMI Richland County. “We want a healthy, happy community. One that really relies on its officers, so that we can engage with them in a healthy way.”
Officers are taught everything from mental health and de-escalation to common triggers like homelessness and domestic violence. They’re also trained to avoid fight-or-flight reactions, instead learning to take a calm, sensitive approach.
“We want them to adjust their behaviors,” Hall said. “Instead of going into that fight-or-flight… (say), ‘Hey, this person is in fight-or-flight. How do I help de-escalate them? Get them the help that they need, while also maintaining their own professionalism?’
“It’s better to use verbal judo to help de-escalate before we have to use tactical forces.”
Actors go all in, said Doug Wertz, the art director and board president for the Mansfield Playhouse. They constantly raise the stakes, looking for a button to press that an officer might face in the field.
The officers never lost focus, however.
Wertz described a bridge-jumper scenario officers faced during the graduation performance. He played a man who had lost his job, was divorced, and believed he had no reason to live. Officers approached the situation with care, talked Wertz’s character off the edge and made the save.
“Mansfield Playhouse has been a phenomenal support to us,” Hall said. “(It takes) a holistic approach to community. They engage with our officers and law enforcement. They partner with other agencies and offer this to us free of charge.”
NAMI’s partnership with the Playhouse started in 2004. Courses occur every April and September, taking officers 40 hours to complete.
“This is a very extensive week; they start at 8 a.m. and then they don’t get out until about 4 or 4:30 p.m. most days,” Hall said.
It’s a smaller class than usual – 12 officers graduated, as opposed to the typical 15 to 20 – but Hall believes there’s good reason for that.
“Our law enforcement agencies are really hurting to get new people through the door,” Hall said. “Turnover has really increased with the social issues that are surrounding our Earth right now … I think it has deterred individuals from signing up and going through the academy.
“If we can get more people to say, ‘Hey, being an officer is about helping our community and really shining that light of positivity around it,’ I think we’re really going to see some great change. That’s what I really saw in this class.”
