Success Story
WOODLAWN POLICE DEPARTMENT
On 9/27/23 Officer Arn and Officer Mathis responded to Goodwill for a report of a staff member being physically violent towards others. When they arrived on scene they observed the patient contained to an area screaming and punching a steel pole. Officer Arn started asking staff what was going on. They were advised that the patient was deaf, nonverbal, and was intellectually delayed. The officers asked if there was a way to communicated and the staff stated no. Officer Mathis continued to observe the patient, keeping the threat contained while Officer Arn used the resources on scene to get the patient's grandmother's phone number. There were discussions of signing a hold but they knew they needed the patient's hand treated. When the grandmother arrived on scene she tried to calm him down and it didn't work. Officer Arn and Officer Mathis were able to handcuff him safely and get him into a squad and calmed down. Officer Arn stayed with the patient until they got to the hospital and the grandmother met them there. Officer Arn and Officer Mathis slowed their response down, contained the threat, and used their resources to de-escalate a nonverbal deaf patient who was in crisis and unable to communicate. Great job!
Thank you to Woodlawn PD for sharing this success!
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