Police share info on vets in crisis
Article by: Mark Brunswick
Star Tribune
Updated: May 22, 2012
A one-day course is scheduled next month to teach law enforcement personnel de-escalation tactics for military veterans in crisis.
The course, hosted by the Lakeville Police Department and the Upper Midwest Community Policing Institute, recognizes the unique circumstances first responders often face when dealing with veterans.
The eight-hour class teaches cops, 911 dispatchers, emergency medical responders, jail personnel, chaplains and others who may encounter a veteran in crisis how to use verbal tactical skills to defuse potentially dangerous situations. It also will deal with the effects of multiple deployments, understanding the emotional impact of war-time stressors, challenges of veterans with reintegration and definitions and how to identify the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health disorders affecting veterans.
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Showing posts with label PTSD veterans in jail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PTSD veterans in jail. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
A look at Vietnam veterans in jail as warning of newer veterans fate
If saving veterans is not morally right to you enough, then think of how much money it costs to send them to jail because it's "between $62,492 and $88,892 a year." Is it worth getting this right finally? These are the men and women we trained to go into combat and risk their lives for us. What did we do when they came home? We tested the wind to see what we could get away with. We were able to just write off Vietnam veterans because we didn't have the Internet and the ability to cover their stories from around the country. We can't hide them now. You can't just write them off or the newer veterans.
Here in Florida there is not enough begin done for any of them and I've tried for 5 years to break through whatever stupid wall there is separating all the different groups while they play games. This is about their lives! It's about their families and it's about our communities. I tried to get churches involved and all but one door was closed. They wouldn't even discuss it. I tried to get service groups involved, but none of them responded. Folks, we're talking about what I do for free and they wouldn't even give me the time of day! For heaven's sake I live in Central Florida and only a few groups have supported the work I do. The last couple of years I had to travel out of state to help their veterans and help set up programs with other groups online. Not here though and that's a real shame.
Here in Florida there is not enough begin done for any of them and I've tried for 5 years to break through whatever stupid wall there is separating all the different groups while they play games. This is about their lives! It's about their families and it's about our communities. I tried to get churches involved and all but one door was closed. They wouldn't even discuss it. I tried to get service groups involved, but none of them responded. Folks, we're talking about what I do for free and they wouldn't even give me the time of day! For heaven's sake I live in Central Florida and only a few groups have supported the work I do. The last couple of years I had to travel out of state to help their veterans and help set up programs with other groups online. Not here though and that's a real shame.
Think Vietnam Vets Were Screwed? Wait Until You See How Many Veterans of Bush's Wars End up in Jail
By Penny Coleman, AlterNet. Posted September 9, 2009.
Far too many soldiers end up behind bars while the rest of us are free to ignore the human evidence of what our military ventures really cost.
As all the other justifications for the U.S. invasion of Iraq have fallen by the wayside, it is ironic that the one that remains is "freedom," because in the name of someone else's freedom, we train our own soldiers to behave in ways that may very well cost them their own.
Gordy Lane is a retired Syracuse police detective who served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. As a cop, it was his job to put lawbreakers behind bars, but as a veteran, he understands that when you go to war, "you come back a little different than when you went over there."
"Listen," he says, "you pop up out of a foxhole, and you blow a guy's head open like a watermelon. The other two guys in the foxhole start patting you on the back and saying, 'Good job!' because you just did the worst thing that you can do to another person. How do you translate that into civilian life?"
For far too many soldiers, the simple answer is, you don't.
But with them behind bars and out of sight, most of the rest of us are free to ignore the human evidence of what our military ventures really cost. Even putting issues of compassion and justice aside, any number of alternatives to prison have been shown to save taxpayer money.
For example, the average annual cost of incarceration in New York state in 2008 was $44,000 a year. But a 2009 report by the Legal Action Committee found that for every individual diverted from prison into community-based treatment programs, the state would save between $62,492 and $88,892 a year.
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Think Vietnam Vets Were Screwed
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
VA begins effort to help veterans in jail
VA begins effort to help veterans in jail
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Aug 5, 2009 9:17:19 EDT
DENVER — The Department of Veterans Affairs has started a nationwide effort to find veterans in jails for minor brushes with the law and offer them medical treatment in hopes of preventing repeat crimes.
The Veterans Justice Outreach Program was launched this year before an Army study released July 15 found a possible link between intense combat and 11 slayings allegedly committed by a handful of Fort Carson soldiers returning from deployment.
read more here
VA begins effort to help veterans in jail
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Aug 5, 2009 9:17:19 EDT
DENVER — The Department of Veterans Affairs has started a nationwide effort to find veterans in jails for minor brushes with the law and offer them medical treatment in hopes of preventing repeat crimes.
The Veterans Justice Outreach Program was launched this year before an Army study released July 15 found a possible link between intense combat and 11 slayings allegedly committed by a handful of Fort Carson soldiers returning from deployment.
read more here
VA begins effort to help veterans in jail
Sunday, August 31, 2008
PTSD on Trial: Treat the wounded and stop sending them to jail
Man wants to start alternative court program for war veterans
BY KATE WARD Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Sunday, August 31, 2008
As a multiple combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, John Bennett has seen the need for post-war treatment first-hand.
"We spend thousands of dollars each year to train these guys to go overseas and fight a war," he said. "Then we bring them back and do very little to integrate them back into society. Some begin self-medicating because of what they've experienced. Their drinking often turns to drug use, which leads to crime."
Bennett hopes to divert troubled vets from the traditional justice system by establishing a court program tailored to their needs. In addition to rehabilitation and treatment, the program would provide vets with the tools needed to lead productive and law-abiding lives through rehabilitative programming, reinforcement and judicial monitoring.
"They stood up for us in war and we need to stand up for them when they return," he said. "Throwing them in jail doesn't help anyone."
A 2007 report conducted by the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors reveals a sizable fraction of service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD ). About 12 to 20 percent of those returning from Iraq, and about 6 to 11 percent of those returning from Afghanistan, suffer from some degree of PTSD. To date, 52, 375 returnees have been seen in Veteran's Affairs hospitals for PTSD symptoms.
"It's very traumatic, mentally," said Steve Gray, veteran affairs coordinator for Rep. John Boozman's office. "The battle mind that keeps them alive and safe over there is what gets them in trouble here."
go here for more
http://nwanews.com/nwat/News/68643/
BY KATE WARD Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Sunday, August 31, 2008
As a multiple combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, John Bennett has seen the need for post-war treatment first-hand.
"We spend thousands of dollars each year to train these guys to go overseas and fight a war," he said. "Then we bring them back and do very little to integrate them back into society. Some begin self-medicating because of what they've experienced. Their drinking often turns to drug use, which leads to crime."
Bennett hopes to divert troubled vets from the traditional justice system by establishing a court program tailored to their needs. In addition to rehabilitation and treatment, the program would provide vets with the tools needed to lead productive and law-abiding lives through rehabilitative programming, reinforcement and judicial monitoring.
"They stood up for us in war and we need to stand up for them when they return," he said. "Throwing them in jail doesn't help anyone."
A 2007 report conducted by the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors reveals a sizable fraction of service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD ). About 12 to 20 percent of those returning from Iraq, and about 6 to 11 percent of those returning from Afghanistan, suffer from some degree of PTSD. To date, 52, 375 returnees have been seen in Veteran's Affairs hospitals for PTSD symptoms.
"It's very traumatic, mentally," said Steve Gray, veteran affairs coordinator for Rep. John Boozman's office. "The battle mind that keeps them alive and safe over there is what gets them in trouble here."
go here for more
http://nwanews.com/nwat/News/68643/
Saturday, August 30, 2008
PTSD:Thousands of war veterans locked in British prisons
Thousands of war veterans locked in British prisons
One in 11 prisoners serving time in UK jails is a former member of the armed forces, a new report reveals.
By Ben Leach
Last Updated: 6:26PM BST 30 Aug 2008
More than 8,000 veterans are currently behind bars, many of whom have served their country in Iraq or Afghanistan, researchers found.
A high proportion of the convicts interviewed in the study had suffered some form of post-traumatic stress disorder after leaving the forces. Often their convictions were for drug- or alcohol-related violence.
Ex-services charities said the findings highlighted the difficulty which many former soldiers face in making the transition to civilian life.
The National Association of Probation Officers (NAPO), which carried out the research, called on the Government to do more to tackle mental health problems suffered by people who have fought in war zones.
It said that around 24,000 veterans are either in jail, on parole or serving community punishment orders after having been convicted of crimes. They make up around nine per cent of the prison population.
Opposition MPs and charities called the findings another example of ministers breaking the 'military covenant' – the guarantee that soldiers receive fair treatment in return for putting their lives on the line.
They claimed that if the Ministry of Defence properly screened those discharged from the military for mental illnesses, problems could be identified earlier.
NAPO's conclusions are based on the findings of three separate studies: MoD research at HMP Dartmoor, a survey at eight jails by the Veterans in Prison support groups last year, and a series of Home Office research projects between 2001 and 2004.
In addition, probation officers provided case histories of 74 individuals so that researchers could assess the factors that drove ex-services personnel to commit crimes.
The report concludes: "Most of the soldiers who had served in either the Gulf or Afghanistan were suffering from post traumatic stress. Little support or counselling was available on discharge from the forces.
"Virtually all became involved in heavy drinking or drug taking and in consequence involvement in violence offences, sometimes domestically related, happened routinely."
click post title for more
The UK has the same problem we do, except we have a lot more wounded veterans in jail instead of in treatment.
One in 11 prisoners serving time in UK jails is a former member of the armed forces, a new report reveals.
By Ben Leach
Last Updated: 6:26PM BST 30 Aug 2008
War veterans make up around nine per cent of the prison population Photo: GETTY IMAGES
More than 8,000 veterans are currently behind bars, many of whom have served their country in Iraq or Afghanistan, researchers found.
A high proportion of the convicts interviewed in the study had suffered some form of post-traumatic stress disorder after leaving the forces. Often their convictions were for drug- or alcohol-related violence.
Ex-services charities said the findings highlighted the difficulty which many former soldiers face in making the transition to civilian life.
The National Association of Probation Officers (NAPO), which carried out the research, called on the Government to do more to tackle mental health problems suffered by people who have fought in war zones.
It said that around 24,000 veterans are either in jail, on parole or serving community punishment orders after having been convicted of crimes. They make up around nine per cent of the prison population.
Opposition MPs and charities called the findings another example of ministers breaking the 'military covenant' – the guarantee that soldiers receive fair treatment in return for putting their lives on the line.
They claimed that if the Ministry of Defence properly screened those discharged from the military for mental illnesses, problems could be identified earlier.
NAPO's conclusions are based on the findings of three separate studies: MoD research at HMP Dartmoor, a survey at eight jails by the Veterans in Prison support groups last year, and a series of Home Office research projects between 2001 and 2004.
In addition, probation officers provided case histories of 74 individuals so that researchers could assess the factors that drove ex-services personnel to commit crimes.
The report concludes: "Most of the soldiers who had served in either the Gulf or Afghanistan were suffering from post traumatic stress. Little support or counselling was available on discharge from the forces.
"Virtually all became involved in heavy drinking or drug taking and in consequence involvement in violence offences, sometimes domestically related, happened routinely."
click post title for more
The UK has the same problem we do, except we have a lot more wounded veterans in jail instead of in treatment.
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