where hello thank you so much for tuning in to another edition of focus on health my name is lisa aereo and i am one of the directors at belmont health collaborative part of what we're doing to reach out to the community is hosting various members from the community to talk about subjects that are important to you this morning i am so happy to be joined by three from the belmont police department who will tell you more about what they are doing on a day to day basis to look out for our kids and to be part of a conversation around safety and health and mental health starting with lieutenant daley she's going to talk about what she does in the community and then we'll hear from officer her in our dear officer at ten or in middle school and then officer o'connor who is the school resource officer at belmont high school so thank you all for joining me today as part of focus on health i'm so excited to get to dig a little deeper and for you to be able to share with the community what you're doing so we'll start with lieutenant daley tell us about your work as the mental health outreach someone who's perhaps having a mental health crisis sometimes in the evening or st thing in the morning and many times the family members won't know what to do especially if it's the st time so officers were usually right up a very good report let the family know that they can contact me and i try to work with the family let them know of all the different options that there are you know our town social worker emergency psych services such as advocates and try to connect them with some of the local hospitals and counselors and therapists and just let them know  different options because many times and families are having a mental health crisis they just feel so alone to let them know that there's people there that can help them and some of the options that they have ok great we will will cycle back to you st and we'll hear from officer her and well good morning lisa thank you so much for having me my name is is officer michael ran and i'm the dinner officer here in town i feel very lucky to have the straw in my opinion the dare program is a wonderful way to facilitate introductions between the police department and families here in safety cademy during the summer with the sheriff's department i do station tours i do cookouts i'm very very lucky it's a wonderful program it is thank you and we will hear more about it officer o'connor tell us a little bit about what you and your role as the school  i continue it with the kids in the high school the biggest the most challenging part of my position is kind of breaking that barrier between police and you know me being in the high school but also being hum lot of the times they see the uniform and they get intimidated and they don't want to speak to me i play the role probably three roles i'm a police officer teacher and a counselor and my counselor role is probably the most active position with me in the high school where students will come to me for her variety of reasons whether it's mental health issues at home doesn't always have to be about the law or certain things that they're doing or see other people doing but just for personal reasons and kind of  a good relationship and i think the biggest part of my job is creating a relationship with the students great thank you ok so cycling back to lieutenant daily what would you want the community to know  about the nature of the work or the most helpful resources that you could offer them in your role well i mean that is the nature of the work is i mean we're there to help you it is also common sense that many times people don't think of calling the police  sometimes they don't think they want to bother us when they have questions or they have a family member that they don't want to do is having a mental health crisis you know many of our officers are trained in crisis intervention many of officers private being police officers that worked in the mental health field so we're very familiar and when we are here to help you know the family members not going to get in trouble you know even if the person is having a real serious crisis you know we want to help and they said you know we some of the officers are a very good reports that can help the family maybe their primary care or the what's going on because we see the full story you know we can try to help them put the pieces together where maybe the doctors aren't sure of what's going on because they only see them every once in a while and we officers can kind of help build a case saying this person really needs some help you know because fortunately sometimes you know the communication between especially when the person is an adult you know in the privacy issues the communication between the doctor in the family kind of gets it doesn't happen and so but if i call as a police officer saying this person really needs help and you need to listen to some of the things that we've been dealing with it gives the doctor a lot more of a better idea of what type of help the family member needs ok so if i have someone at my home i guess visiting a friend of one of my children and there is an anxiety attack or you know something severe seems to be happening and i'm concerned for his or her safety and i call eleven that police officer would be able to help would be are they going to talk to the i mean many times are officers if we really feel like the person needs to go to hospital we can talk them into going to the hospital i mean our offices do have the ability of section twelve and someone i mean many times if we really feel like someone needs to go to the hospital they don't want to we can call emergency psychiatric services which is advocates and they can send someone out to evaluate but many times are officers they really do their best and like the person to go in because we know they'll be more open once they get to the hospital you know we try not to force people to go we try to work with them and we try to sometimes when they're just there to listen sometimes the person just need someone to listen to them for a while once they realize that people will listen to them they realize that yes they can go to the hospital and someone there well listen to him  there's times officers even gone with the person sometimes that's a way of being able to convince the person to go i will go with you and i will let the hospital understand that you know you really are having a problem and they need to listen to you so it sounds like one of the key things that can be offered by responding officer is a deescalation yes of the situation if a family member feels that they can't handle what's happening at the office is a very good at deescalation ok that's good to know and is there any situation or is there any chance that you can follow up with the family as always you know and that's what that's what happens is said many times the mental health crisis situations happen sometimes late at the evening so that's why our offices are right a very detailed report and then when i come in the report my mailbox because and thirty at night the person's perma care isn't you know isn't open you know certain places aren't open so i work monday through friday you know eight to four so i can make those phone calls to the primary care to the family member to the hospital and so that's what i do the so officers will respond to the call you know whether the person goes voluntarily or they have to get a section twelve they will write reports and they write very good reports and they also let the family members know about me and you know that there are many different options in the town daily will probably call you in the morning and you know i always look through all the reports many times i put it in my mailbox a little called the family and say ok so now these are some steps and they say well we've been trying to talk to the dr but the doctor says due to privacy issues and i say well you know what i as a police officer call and say mom going to let you know i say the doctors i know you can't tell me anything but i can let you know that we've had some issues and i think this person really needs some help sometimes and it comes from a police officer it's taken a little bit more seriously you know right great so i hear that there's deescalation and then there's the very important follow up generate it's obviously the biggest school in belmont and it's a wonderful opportunity for me to sit with them at lunch and talk with them spend time with them at recess before school after school talk about the curriculum the ones to curriculum they really really want to learn it but more than that it's more of an initial facilitation between the belmont police department and families ok because families as we know today come in all shapes and sizes ok and one thing that most of them have in common is they all embody the core values of love on a steady and caring for their children and my ability to spend time with the th graders teach them you know the consequences of making bad decisions of not being honest experimenting you know with drugs and alcohol not listening to their parents and then being able to follow up with the parents when they come for private station tours different events the police department does i think it's just it's a miracle i think it's absolutely remarkable thing and i feel very blessed and very humbled and very fortunate to have this position has the curriculum changed much since one thousand nine hundred i have one of the reasons why this program has existed for as long as it has  because it's constantly evolving it wants to better itself and you have police officers all around the nation that are dear certified but that actually go to middle elementary and high school sit down with the students ok ask them what are your concerns what are your fears and then they try to take the curriculum and tailor it to their concerns to their needs great so it does evolve and what topics you don't have to go through all a court topics that you are imparting teaching the main focus of the dare program is to impress upon these th graders that there are long term consequences to their both their mental health and their physical health ok if they don't care about themselves enough and respect themselves enough to never experiment with any type of artificial chemical i would say to them if it's not food and if it's not described by your doctor you shouldn't go into your body ok so that's really what we talk about and it's also this part of it too is again learning to trust the police realizing that they're not just officers in uniforms their parents their older brothers their older sisters their mentors and the the greatest moment of my the greatest moments of my job is when i went into police officers that i work with like these two fine gals and they say to me i was at star market and i was on detail whatever and all of a sudden i was surrounded by small children they were so happy to see me because of the dare program because because of you they feel comfortable approaching me that's the thing is i want the children in this town to know that they can all of my colleagues that we genuinely care and i will say as a parent of three children who have gone through the dare program that they definitely see you as a friend in the community and when we where they are very excited to run into you so you're there at the cherry yes you're mostly teaching you're teaching grade five correct but it sounds like in addition to the classroom work you're also there you're in the cafeteria or you're reading kids in the morning i'm lucky to work while with some wonderful guidance counselors and i work really harmoniously with them and the vice principal john are tuning is great and it's a team effort it's not just me it's carla hawkins joke when robin it's all of us coming together and working as a team to keep them safe keep them healthy keep them educated and letting them know that we're there for them ok because of the opioid epidemic which we're hearing about on a daily basis has that topic infiltrated what you're the conversation you're having with the kids the dia program is working on that there's not a specific lesson on that right now but they know it's a concern i attended a conference last year in north conway new hampshire  and they are working on that in the meantime i encourage children's parents their doctors their guidance counselors to get involved and courage them to approach them especially the supper table tonight or when they're going for physical and talk about their concerns ok so it sounds like that that if children have concerns absolute there are certainly resources yes to to address those ok thank you and they can also talk to any of my colleagues to think well it sounds like it sounds like there are overt goals to the program yes it sounds like kind of the subtle goals or something that is achieved is that the open door policy that and we face the fact that the police officers are there to help and answer questions and i think that that is a meaningful difference from when i was a kid in the one thousand nine hundred and seventy s where police officers were definitely seen as authority and power power figuration not necessarily you know resources to go to with sensitive issues such as mom doesn't seem well i don't know what to do right or things and i truly believe it when i say one thing i'm in my thirty's and when i meet men and women from all walks of life in their thirty's when i say melbourne police officer is what do you do on the department you in the day or officer nine times and ten i get my dear officer was great you know he or she was so cool and something happened when i was a teen no one is in my early twenty's and they were right there for me so i hear that all over the state every word go so great that's i mean it is a service i think and i think it is opening doors and i think if it changes the paradigm of you know we're here to help then that in itself is is really meaningful officer connor tell us what kinds of things you said you you have various roles as a police officer as a teacher and as a counsellor tell us a little bit more what it's like at the high school on a day to day basis what kinds of interactions are you having with the kids or with their parents you know are you putting out fires are you going into classrooms and i don't mean literal fires i mean are you are you handling crises is another way to to say that or are you actually meeting with kids on an ongoing basis tell us a little bit about what your day to day like so what i start my day is i read the reports from the previous day every morning and then from there i take whatever we find  there's anything juvenile we have a memorandum of understanding with the schools so if there's anything that i need to share with the assistant principals principal that in the morning i do that and then we have a meeting pretty much right after that if it comes to that point i have kids in my office every day all day busy in and whether it's to talk to me about something or they want to do their homework in the office or have a snack in the office that's a big time during the day they're in and out all day i was lucky enough to have the opportunity to have coached a few sports at the high school and i think that's really been beneficial for my position because the students see me outside of the uniform in a different light and see me as a human being so it's really good and they know they can come into my office and talk to me just about anything personal relationships people doing better at making bad choices and they see it things at home so that's part of i guess the counselor role i have taught in classrooms i've taught in the you in the law class i've spoken about sexual assaults and that type of stuff because at that age that stuff is really starting to take place in you know people are very curious and they want to know what the law really reads and so i play a role in that there's also roles  in such outside of school that will take place that i will be vailable and i'll make my face known i go to a clinic advance band concerts school plays so they can see that i'm really dedicated invested in my job and i think that's really big for the students to see that it's not just a nine to five job i go to work every day and i show my face really interested and i'm dedicated busy in in that plays a big role i think in my position but it also shows the parents too that you know i'm open and i'm available and you can come speak to me any time i get parent phone calls on a day to day basis just about certain things on how to help with behavioral issues or issues with the school that they may having that maybe i can help  as far as you know discipline and i really don't touch those issues because the school has very strict policies with school handbook but i'm there as a kind of a mentor for the parents as well where they can come and talk to me and just kind of see you know other sides of the issue more on the law side as far as crime which does happen we do a very good job all three of us as far as communication in our roles as we talk everything out thoroughly every situation is different and we really really got to get to the bottom of it and we understand kids will be kids and we are very big believers that we give these kids nd chances and that's the most important thing we're not here to you know ruin their lives and we know that people make poor choices we don't want them to continue to make those poor choices so we all step in and we make that known that we're here to yes facilitate and help but we also have a job to do and if they break the law we want to help them understand it and realize and learn from it and that's the biggest thing and i think that's the best role busy all three of us can play as far as busy we understand people make mistakes but we want to make sure that they learn from it and that's one of the biggest and most powerful things i think in my position is to show that you know we are both believer in nd chances and we are a believer in in helping these students get to the next level and learn from any mistakes that they have made great are you  actively involved in planning any of the curriculum for the positive decision making course or i know that that course tackles some of the same topics that i'm guessing that you do more informally yes i'm  involved in the actual curriculum but they do ask advice all the time they look for statistics they asked for me to come into the classroom a lot of the kids have to make a video for their positive decision making class and i've appeared in many videos  whether you know it's in the hallway in my office in a classroom they've been very open to coming to me and in having me be a part of those those role plays for those decision making classes great and to you you were part of the i know that we hear about the social host liability law you were part of that outreach to the community yes very much so lieutenant daley and i have put on the last two years we've contacted the district attorney's office in marion ryan will come to the school and she will give a presentation for parents to educate on the social host law it's a greeley really great presentation it's something that i think that a lot of parents should take advantage of and fortunately we don't get as much of a showing as we would like but we do offer it and we will always offer it because we feel that strongly about that and we know we know what happens and what does go on and we want to prevent any tragedies or any situation that may have been could have been prevented i had an idea which we can talk more about offline but of making a vat program in tandem with the mandatory program that happens at the end of senior year the careful or program yes because i think if there's a if the word mandatory is worked in to the programming you might get you would obviously get a lot more parents so i think that they do go hand in hand and they are both you know really valuable very much posix and i think that would be awesome it would be great then you come into the  the time constraint you know right presentations probably an hour right and then you know i understand the value both time dinner time homework all that but i agree it's just as important to get the word out there that where you know very very supportive of this type of program and we really don't want to see something happen and we are doing our best to prevent any tragedies and for our listening audience just in a couple of sentences when we're we refer to the social host liability law tell us what we're talking about so it's been caught somewhat common practice that parents will sometimes allow children to drink in their homes and when they do that they say oh well take your keys you know everything's going to be safe here it's not always like that kids can walk away they can go to a friend's house and luckily involvement we have haven't had a tragedy that i can that i worked with but there's been times where people walk away they can stumble in the street they fall headfirst into a puddle they can't breathe they drowned and they die the person hosting that party where they got the alcohol that's the social host where they are liable for anything that happens so that goes into the whole they can be charged you know and then that's where the district attorney will come in and give the whole you know lesson as to how far these charges go what happens how much money you can lose what your house you could have to give up and she has real life scenarios that are very eye opening i believe  for parents to see and hear because we want to stop any such thing that could possibly turn into a tragedy all right so if parents know that they are legally responsible right perhaps it would change the the way in which they leave the house or how they leave the house right or the amount of liquor that that home correct ok that's i think that's important yes it is i just want to add one thing i is the dear office and so i'm really really happy that most of the high school and one thing i want to add is what i have lunch with the th graders especially those that have older siblings believe it or not even in th grade they already they already have these concerns and i say to them all the time when you get to be a freshman and it may seem like a long way but three years goes by like that when you get to be a freshman melissa is there so when you leave here and you don't see me anymore you're not alone in you need to feel free to go to her office and express these concerns and i'm really happy that she's there because a lot of the issues social and there's a lot of overlap in what your goals are for the community and therefore that will be less families and less kids that fall through the cracks because you're able to talk with each other about families that might be more vulnerable kids that might be more vulnerable and the survey thing i mean sometimes people think like school resource officer oh she's only dealing with kids who break the laws and stuff but when we have situations where parents having mentos crisis and there's two or three children in the home you know we try to work the schools let them know these children might need a little you know extra help they need to meet with a schools have them during the day time but they don't know what's going on at night and the memorandum of understanding that we have you know you wonder why the child maybe didn't bring their homework or seems a little depressed and that's were also on or off the ramble that the school know and we've even reached out to elementary schools because of a ship that they have with the we don't know high school and the elementary schools to let them know that this person is not going to be having a good day because they had a really bad night and you know that's when the guidance counselors can work and get the kids the help that they need and and bring some stuff out so we don't just focus on the kids you know make the bad choices that break the laws where they are for the kids that are might be having a crisis at home and we try to work with the schools to help them get the help they need great tell us a little bit about grim kind of new to the community ok well graham is our canine officer and we've had him for approximately three years now three and a half years and he is trained to search for people in need is also trained to search for drugs and he has he also goes to calls to other towns so he's assistant when someone has been missing or he's also assisted when there's possibly need to search for drugs and he has help with a few actually pretty good sized bus and he's also help locating some some missing people so he's there he's on his handlers officer corey taylor and he takes them home with him and i know we've done a town my presentation before about and we had a pretty good turnout and he did some demonstrations on what he can do of people always think the canine all missing person i think of a missing person like someone who you know a criminal but when we had been missing people all timers are missing people with special needs that tend to wander you know grimm is helped with that also so and graeme has made appearances a yes he has  well we have the school department has in their hymn book the drug searches that the dogs do and what happens is officers pretty much facilitate the whole thing because he has an e mail database that can connect to all sorts of canines throughout the area and they'll come in they'll do drug search dogs sweep in we do that twice a year at the high school in we have a very good relationship with the school expression at the high school where the principals and assistant principals are very open to it will come and visit even if he's not doing a drug search you come and visit and walk the halls we obviously have a no drug policy at the school and we want to make that loud and clear that the most important thing is no drugs at school and graham does a very good job and showing his appearance and we are very happy to have him great does graham a pair at the generally well not exactly he does appear when i do station tours whenever i have a group of th graders yes i love his milk chocolate face q so yes he does very much on station tours was lucky so we have about three minutes left of our show in the last three minutes i want to give each of you a chance to tell us tell the listening audience what the most rewarding part of your job is and what the most challenging part of your position is so i'll start with officer connor this time to take a few sentences and let us know the most rewarding part of my job in this is why i took this job is to help people and on a daily basis i see it might not be at the magnitude of you know maybe saving a life from a drug overdose  there every day and i know i make a difference in their kids lives and i know that i'm someone that they can trust and talk to and that really means a lot to me in that happens every single day and sometimes bigger moments than others but it still makes makes me proud and it makes me know that this is why i became a police officer and i'd say the most challenging part of my job would be certainly just to have that barrier be broken between the uniform and the fact that i'm a human being and that they can come talk to me because a lot of the times when students see a police officer it's in a negative time whether it's at home or they see something on the street someone's breaking the law they see us and it's scary to them it's negative and i want them to know that they can talk to me great officer and i sort of the most rewarding part of my job is being with the th graders in the classroom there's nothing more magical because they're always so happy to see me and they love the curriculum they want to learn them so the biggest challenge for me is i'm the st officer to really meet the families and the families today come in all shapes and sizes you know you have in many cases aunts and uncles grandparents same sex couples sometimes even older siblings raising you know raising children they're doing a great job doing an awesome job so it's getting to know them and helping them to see the human side of us ok and the tenant daily we're up against the clock to be there for a family when i think they have no options and they've lost all hope and to be able to help them on the most rewarding in the most difficult one is trying to get someone help when they don't want to they don't see that they need the help guide well we thank you so much and behalf of the town of belmont the belmont media center endowment help collaborative thank you each and each of you for what you're doing and i day to day basis we know it's making a difference we know it's meaningful work and you for letting our audience know what you're doing and thank you for coming on the show