THE Federal Highway Police (PRF) edited internal guidelines for approaching people in mental health crisis.
The document, created after Genivaldo de Jesus Santos, 38, was killed in the trunk of a car, in Sergipe, recommends that the approach be “serene” and that the physical containment of someone in an outbreak be seen as an exception, a “last resort”.
“Federal highway police officers should be aware that the application or use of physical restraints can exacerbate any aggression being displayed by the individual in crisis,” reads the guidance, signed on June 14 by PRF’s director of operations, Djairlon Henrique Moura. .
On May 25, police officers immobilized Genivaldo, in Umbaúba, in the south of Sergipe, put him in a vehicle and threw tear gas inside the car.
The death certificate indicated mechanical asphyxia and acute respiratory failure. The victim was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was not armed. She left a wife and a 7-year-old son.
The guidelines emphasize that the diagnosis of mental illnesses is complex even for health professionals.
However, he stresses that federal highway police officers must be “capable of recognizing people with mental disorders, especially those potentially violent and/or dangerous”.
The document was presented in response to a request for information made by Deputy Alexandre Padilha (PT-SP).
The PRF board also guides the police to trigger the Emergency Medical Service (Samu) or the Fire Department to assist in approaching people in mental health crisis.
The booklet also asks police officers to create “empathy”, avoid “agitating the individual” and “be sincere” in the dialogues with those approached.
In addition, it will be necessary to assess the “personal trajectory” of each one to detect whether the person in crisis represents a potential danger.
Source: CNN Brasil
