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Randi M. Glossman

Police Lieutenant, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office | Patrol Zone 3  |

Commander of Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU) & Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM)

 

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Click here to view an Interview with Police Lieutenant Randi M. Glossman and find answers for the below questions:

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Please tell me a little bit more about yourself like your educational background, job title, the different roles you have as both Commander of the Crisis Negotiations Unit and the Critical Incident Stress Management Team, and how long you have been doing this.

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Can you explain the difference between a Crisis Intervention Team and a Crisis Negotiations Unit?

 

To become a member of a Crisis Intervention Team, police officers undergo a 40-hour training which emphasizes understanding of mental illness and the development of communication skills. Does this training involve education on a broad range of mental illness?

 

A Crisis Negotiations Unit is typically a special unit within a Sheriff’s Office that is called upon to help in a crisis. How does the Crisis Negotiations Unit of which you are commander of function? Is it called upon by the sheriff’s office once they identify an individual to have a mental illness?

 

If the Crisis Negotiations Unit is called upon after a team of officers decide an individual has a mental illness, are the officers the ones to first identify whether one has a mental illness? What training is given to them enabling them to be qualified to make this identification?

 

As Commander of the Crisis Negotiations Unit, is there any other training apart from the standard 40-hour training given to CNUs?

Some Crisis Negotiations Units in certain counties, such as Mecklenburg County, meet at a scheduled interval to refresh and update their training, and discuss potential improvements with each other. Does the CNU in which you are Commander of have anything similar to this? If not, do you think such meetings could benefit the CNU?

 

Are there specific mental health issues that are focused on in CIT training? If so, can you explain the thought process behind the decision to focus on these?

 

As part of education on mental illness, are future CIT officers given specific characteristics of a person with a certain mental illness that would help recognize and identify them?

 

Once a person is recognized to have a mental illness, is there a certain way of dealing with them in the crisis response (are certain extra measures or procedures established for the way the individual is handled)?

 

The training of a member of a Crisis Negotiations Unit involves learning advanced communication skills to deal with an individual with a mental illness. Are there specific communication skills for different types of mental illness, or is there a general way of dealing with all individuals with mental illness?

 

An important part of a Crisis Negotiations Unit is obtaining background information about and a psychological profile of an individual. In a crisis response, is this done after first mitigating a situation? What specific measures and procedures are used when establishing a psychological profile of an individual?

 

Is a psychological profile established by members of the Crisis Negotiations Unit, or are mental and behavioral health experts used to do so?

 

Since any individual may react in dramatic or emotional ways in a situation of high-pressure such as a crisis response, how do you and your team define the line between a normal emotional reaction and a mental health issue that warrants a different type of treatment?

 

Does the Crisis Negotiations Unit provide any health resources and linkages to the individual to aid them in the long-term, or is it focused on an immediate response?

 

Do you have any ties or relationships with any Mental Health Services, especially those who respond to crises? Or do you more so act as independent service teams?

 

Not only are you Commander of the Crisis Negotiations Unit, but you are also involved in the Critical Incident Stress Management Team, which responds to the emotional and psychological effects experienced by responders themselves following stressful responses and critical incidents. Is there a scheduled time for debriefing of officers to occur? Does it happen after particularly stressful responses?

 

Are there different types of CISM interventions that your team uses, such as defusing and grief and loss?

Is the Crisis Incident Stress Management Team available to any officer at any time, or is there a scheduled time in which your services are provided?

 

Are any resources provided to families of officers who have dealt with a stressful response to help them better support the officer?