Governor signs bills to improve mental-health training for first-responders

Jul. 12—A bill Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law last week is designed to prevent loss of life by improving police training and practices for dealing with people with mental illnesses.

The legislation arises from police deadly-force incidents involving people with mental health disorders, said N.H. Sen. Bob Giuda, R-Warren, Senate Bill 376's prime sponsor.

Another bill Sununu signed seeks to better address the problems faced by first-responders who experience traumatic stress in crisis situations.

"New Hampshire law enforcement sets the gold standard, and we remain one of the safest states in the country," Sununu said in a written statement Friday. "These bills will ensure that those who are tasked with keeping us safe have access to services and programs that will help them serve our fellow citizens on front-lines."

SB 376 will provide $1.1 million in the fiscal year ending next June 30 to increase the number of officers who receive crisis-intervention training throughout the state. The 40-hour training course aims to help officers de-escalate situations before they become violent.

"The bill funds an effort that will be overseen by the state Department of Safety to provide one critical-intervention-trained police officer in every jurisdiction in the state," Giuda said Monday.

The money will cover police department expenses, including overtime, for officers undergoing this training, which educates officers on signs and symptoms of mental illness and provides them with de-escalation skills.

Also under the measure, lawmakers will study whether to establish a board to review the role mental health plays in police deadly-force incidents. The results of such reviews could not be used in litigation or disciplinary proceedings.

Instead, they could help in developing better policies and procedures to avoid officer-involved shootings that may be legally justified but perhaps could have been avoided, Giuda said.

The N.H. Attorney General's Office reviews officer-involved shootings already, but these reviews are limited to whether the officer violated the law.

That office, for example, ruled that a N.H. state trooper had legal justification when he shot and injured a Walpole man outside the man's home on Dec. 4.

A family member said the man was acting suicidal, and the AG's Office said the shooting occurred after the man pointed what appeared to be a pistol at police. It turned out to be a pellet gun with safety markings removed.

In analyzing reports from the AG's Office, the Concord Monitor reported in December 2021 that more than 60 percent of people shot and killed by police in New Hampshire in the past decade had clear indicators of mental illness. All five of the deadly police shootings in the past two years had involved someone in the midst of a mental health crisis, the newspaper reported.

The other bill Sununu signed, SB 357, extends the life of a commission that studies post-traumatic stress disorder in first-responders. The bill also seeks to ensure mental health training is available to them.

PTSD has been implicated in a range of mental health problems involving police officers, firefighters and others, issues that can lead to suicide. When emergency workers better understand the problem, they can deal with it more effectively, including by seeking help, said Rep. Stephen Pearson, R-Derry, one of the bill's sponsors.

SB 357 requires all law enforcement officers, dispatchers, and fire and emergency medical personnel to complete mental health training on PTSD before they start on the job. It also requires subsequent yearly online refresher courses.

"They need to know the resources that are available to them and 'here's who you can call, and here's a number to ask questions' and that sort of thing," said Pearson, a Manchester fire lieutenant. "What we found was that you would ask a first-responder, 'If you have a problem, where do you go?'

"And most of them had no idea what to do."

He said firefighters are often put in stressful situations at the scene of accidents and other traumatic events.

Franklin Police Chief David Goldstein echoed that sentiment in testimony on April 12 before the House Executive Departments and Administration Committee.

"We have a front-row seat to despair on a daily basis. We prepare for battle every single day," he said.

"We ride an emotional roller coaster. Some days are good, some bad. I save a life today. I take one tomorrow. And there's often negative public perception for everything a first-responder does."

Rick Green can be reached at rgreen@keenesentinel.com or 603-355-8567.

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