Covington Police Officers ‘walked the walk’ with NAMI, enacting their training on mental health issues

Covington Police Officers literally “walked the walk” of compassion in force at the annual MANI Walks event Saturday, partnering with the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) and CIT Northern Kentucky (Crisis Intervention Training) for the annual event.

The walk at Pioneer Park takes place each year in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Week.

“Current and retired members of the Covington Police Department (were) happy to participate in the NAMI Walk supporting NAMI’s mission in raising awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives,” said Covington Assistant Police Chief Matthew Winship.

Trained with compassion

For some members of the Covington Department, the walk bookended a week committed to gaining further insight and understanding about the individuals they often encounter in their line of duty, the ones who battle mental and medical illnesses.

Throughout the week Northern Kentucky-based Police Officers and local mental health professionals participated in Crisis Intervention Team training, or CIT Northern Kentucky. CIT, also known as the “Memphis Model,” was developed in 1988 and has since spread to more than 2,700 communities nationwide. The program’s training creates connections among law enforcement, mental health providers, hospital emergency services, and individuals with mental illness and their families. It gives police officers vital tools to do their job safely and effectively, while helping to keep people with mental illness out of jail and in treatment.

On Tuesday, 35 local Police Officers gathered in a room at the Boone County Sheriff’s Office in Burlington to hear Winship deliver his presentation. He has taught the “Four Step Process” for de-escalating crisis situations for the last 11 years, illustrating the effectiveness and impact of CIT’s processes, which focuses on how to stay calm, investigate, assess, and facilitate a person in crisis. He teaches by sharing from first-hand examples.

“It lends credibility to the program, and I’m proud to stand up in front of a class and share my story and make an impact on someone else,” said Winship, who said the program provides important tools for Covington officers.

“I’m incredibly proud that we have more than 80 officers trained,” said Winship. “It’s not uncommon that I hear stories about our officers who used the skills they learned in CIT, and being a human is what CIT is – how to interact with another human being with respect and compassion, which are among our Department’s core values; compassion and respect as a human, not just a diagnosis.”

That compassion, and the tools that officers learn in CIT training, matter to mothers like Martie Rhoden Bessler.

‘My child didn’t ask for this’

In 2001, Derrick Rhoden, a high school freshman and Bessler’s son, was a basketball standout at Bishop Brossart High School. At 7-foot-1 and weighing 250 lbs., Derrick was a top talent on the court who caught the eye of Division 1 scouts and would be selected for the Kentucky High School All-Star team. There he traveled with players like Rajon Rondo, who went on to play point guard for the University of Kentucky Wildcats before being drafted by the Phoenix Suns of the NBA.

But in 2001, just before Derrick’s sophomore basketball season, he was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a severe and chronic neurological condition that tends to affect young people in their mid- to late teens with symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The condition is rare, affecting about 0.3 percent of Americans, or 3 in every 1,000 people.

After his diagnosis, Derrick continued to play the game, scoring a four-year varsity career total of 854 points. But over the years, Derrick’s neurological condition would decline, and developing diabetes was an added hardship. In December 2023, Derrick passed away due to medical complications related to his illness.

Throughout his journey, Martie Bessler navigated her way through a daunting mental health system, doing what a mother does – tenaciously looking out for her child and doing everything in her power to keep him safe. To that end, she became a vital voice in CIT training, informing law enforcement in offices of the very real human element of mental illness.

When Bessler shares her experience – Derrick’s story, one that is both heartbreaking and wise – in the Northern Kentucky CIT training programs, she talks about her son’s size, sometimes showing one of his size 22 shoes, which usually grabs everyone’s attention. She explains how Derrick lost his father to leukemia when he was 5 years old, and how he grew to love basketball and had a real talent for the game. She presents them with the story of a young, once vibrant, full-of-potential child who had no say in the illness that brought life as he knew it to a halt.

“There’s nothing my son did to get this, other than the roll of the dice of mental illness,” said Bessler. That is a critical message throughout CIT training, and one she successfully communicated long ago with the men and women who served in Covington’s Police Department.

“Covington was my son’s home for 15 years,” said Bessler. “The Covington Police Department is very active in CIT, and my purpose is to help our officers understand that my child didn’t ask for this, he had hope, he had a future, he had a brother in law enforcement. This is an amazing program. Accolades to Covington.”

Derrick’s first home as a young adult in Covington was a place that provided housing for individuals with a mental illness. Bessler described it as a place where staff helped residents be consistent with their medications and provided a sense of community for them. For a mother, it brought great comfort. But when the location was no longer funded and shuttered its doors, Bessler found a small house for Derrick in Covington. During Derrick’s time there, Bessler and Derrick built a relationship with Covington officers that had lasting impact for all.

“Seeing our officers demonstrate compassion with Derrick and Martie over the many years shows that compassion isn’t just a word to us, but something we believe in and strive to achieve,” said Winship. “Walking with Martie and Derrick on their journey showed us how difficult living with mental illness can be, how many people it affects, and how important it is to support and lift up those who are in need.”

Participants in NAMI Walks honored Derrick, whose brother Nick, a local law enforcement officer, served as the event’s community chair.

‘The best possible outcome’

Ryan Wilfong, a career hostage negotiator, helped the Louisville Police Department CIT program go statewide to de-escalate crisis situations after a Louisville Police Department Officer was shot and killed while responding to a car accident. Officers came upon the driver beating himself with a tire iron, and when an Officer attempted to retrieve the iron, the man grabbed a gun from one of the officer’s holsters and shot and killed the officer. Denise Spratt, then Kentucky’s CIT coordinator and now the executive director, approached the Department about taking their program statewide. They created the program based on Louisville’s model and the Memphis model and took it statewide in 2007. They now offer 12 classes a year and have trained nearly 5,000 officers.

“The bottom line is giving officers the communication skills – give them some information about mental health, not to make a diagnosis, but to understand what the behavior could be – and then steer them toward the best possible outcome in situations,” Wilfong said about the training.

Covington plays a key role in that training

“We have an outstanding relationship with Covington PD,” said Wilfong. “Matt’s been an instructor with us for many years, and Greg Jones, who retired as Covington PD Captain, still teaches at the state level.”

Over the years, Winship said he’s had 25-year veteran officers approach him at the end of his CIT presentation and ask, “Where was this training 20 years ago?”

“There is nothing about CIT that’s earth-shattering or new, it’s about sharpening your axe as a public service officer and re-centering your purpose,” said Winship.

Jim Dahmann, PhD, a clinical psychologist with North Key Community Care who wrote the grant to bring CIT to Northern Kentucky, was in attendance for Winship’s class. Dahman said CIT training presents information that officers don’t get at the Police Academy.

“Used to, people would come here saying they didn’t want any part of this training,” said Dahman. “Since then, we’ve had this class completely filled.”

During his presentation, Winship likes to ask the officers to think about a circumstance that they’ve encountered in their career that really sticks with them – an instance that 20 years later they still remember.

“I’ve found that they select something that doesn’t necessarily have someone in crisis, but where someone was a victim, often a child victim, because they identify the victim as a real victim, as someone who can’t do anything about their circumstance,” said Winship. “I relate that to people with mental illness, because they can’t choose their fate. I ask them to look at the person they’re dealing with, who they’re helping, as someone who didn’t choose their fate.”

With one in four people diagnosed with a mental illness, Winship said that if officers approach every mental crisis or CIT run with that idea in mind, it centers them as officers and public servants to dig in and help that person, and try to get them the help they need.

“I’m so proud of our officers,” said Winship. “They are tested and experienced. We answer over 60,000 calls of service a year. I don’t think there’s an agency in the region that can touch our officers and their professionalism. Integrity professionalism, compassion, respect, and justice are our Department’s core values, and they don’t forget those words – they live them.”

City of Covington

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