Police officers have lots of experience with people who seem belligerent, defiant or unpredictable. But some of these people aren’t troublemakers at all — they’re people suffering from dementia, who may be lost, confused or unable to communicate clearly.

The symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia can often look suspicious to law enforcement officers, according to Jamie Gideon, a public policy director for the Heart of America Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. But Gideon and other advocates want to change that. They’ll be petitioning the Legislature on Tuesday to make it mandatory for all first responders to undergo training on how to spot signs of dementia.

Gideon said she has about 40 meetings planned with individual legislators on that day to discuss the training, as well as statewide funding for Alzheimer’s assistance and a statewide council focused on Alzheimer’s issues.

“The greatest benefit is the increased safety,” Gideon said. “We have seen many cases where, unfortunately, the proper training wasn’t used by law enforcement and they weren’t aware of the signs. It has led to that person being injured because they didn’t know how to communicate and they didn’t respond properly.”

The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that about 1,700 people in Lawrence had Alzheimer’s as of 2022, Gideon said, and that the majority were over age 65.

In Lawrence and Douglas County, the challenges of helping people with dementia have been on law enforcement leaders’ minds for a while.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office already uses an Alzheimer’s training program for its uniformed officers, called “Approaching Alzheimer’s: First Responder Training,” and sheriff’s office spokesman George Diepenbrock said Sheriff Jay Armbrister has encouraged staff to undergo additional training for interacting with people with special needs.

And Sgt. Gwyn Fogarty, who supervises the Lawrence Police Department’s Mental Health Team, said more than 77% of the department’s officers have received Crisis Intervention Training, which includes looking for signs of medical and mental health problems.

“Officers receive training in recognizing individuals who could be suffering from symptoms due to a medical or mental health issue from a variety of reasons, including dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and any other brain-altering illness or situation,” Fogarty said.

Symptoms of dementia can easily be misinterpreted as intoxication or defiance, so Fogarty said Lawrence police are trained to ask questions to determine whether the person they’re talking to is actually in a crisis. If an officer — or a 911 dispatcher — can recognize a person in distress quickly, Fogarty said the department deploys a mental health team, which includes licensed therapists who can provide immediate professional support. The mental health team can also follow up with family members of the person in crisis, Fogarty said.

“Officers utilize active listening, difficult conversation skills, or Crisis Intervention Training in their daily contact within the community, which helps hone these skills,” Fogarty said.

Even the general training that law enforcement officers receive from the beginning can help them interact with people they encounter in positive, effective ways, Diepenbrock said.

“Uniformed staff, nearly from the time they start as Corrections Officers, are trained in de-escalation tactics, which many deputies will tell you benefits them immensely once they become patrol deputies,” he said.

Diepenbrock said he hopes people feel comfortable sharing sensitive information that might help law enforcement officers protect their loved ones who are in crisis.

“If something seems to be amiss, always feel comfortable contacting law enforcement for help,” Diepenbrock said. “Providing as much specific information to dispatchers or law enforcement is also very helpful for deputies responding to calls.”

One of the most frightening dementia-related problems for families is when a relative going missing, and first responders in Douglas County have training on what to do when that happens.

Fogarty said Lawrence police are all trained on how to respond to Silver Alerts, which are issued when an elderly person goes missing. She said the more first responders know about the situation and the sooner they hear about it, the better the outcome will likely be for those who have gotten lost.

GPS tracking can often help in these situations, Fogarty said, and families who know their loved ones are at risk of wandering can take steps to make them easier to locate.

“Most smart devices can provide GPS tracking for loved ones with Alzheimer’s or dementia,” Fogarty said. “There are also GPS tags you can buy to put into a family member’s car, shoes, purse, or maybe even their favorite hat, if you know they never leave home without it.”

There’s also a program operating in Douglas County that’s specifically dedicated to using GPS tracking to rescue individuals who have wandered off: Project Lifesaver. The program fits participants with a wristband that contains a transmitter that responders can track, and it’s available to people of all ages with any number of conditions that could cause them to wander.

Diepenbrock said Douglas County joined the nationwide program under former Sheriff Ken McGovern; the county’s program is currently overseen by Chief Mike Baxter with Consolidated Fire District No. 1. County residents who are interested in the program can call 785-843-2226 for more information.

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