The Associated Press
LEWISTON, Maine (AP) -- In her three years as crisis intervention officer for the Lewiston, Maine Police Department, Laurie Cyr-Martel has seen her share of people in crisis -- domestic fights, armed standoffs, suicide attempts, abused children.
Her experiences, she thought, were enough to fill a book that would help other officers deal with similar situations.
“The feedback I was getting suggested that the officers and others would benefit if they had a handbook they could pick up and refer to,” Cyr-Martel said.
Every police officer in Lewiston will soon have a copy of her book, “Responding to Emotionally Disturbed Persons: a Manual for Law Enforcement Personnel,” which was was published in September. Child welfare workers have expressed interest in the book, as have trainers at some police academies in Maine and other states.
“I tried to make it as user-friendly as possible. It’s not big and cumbersome like a textbook.”
Although the contents would apply to any police or emergency agency, it has a definite local flavor with photos taken at local crime scenes and other tense situations that Cyr-Martel has been involved in since coming to Lewiston.
Cyr-Martel, who holds advanced degrees in behavioral science and counseling psychology, has worked as a child therapist, crisis counselor and clinical coordinator of a mental health crisis team.
Currently, she is assigned to the Lewiston police force through the Maine Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services.
“She’s a great resource for the officers,” said Lewiston Deputy Chief Mike Bussiere. “They’re out there dealing with people who are often at their worst -- whether they’re just having a bad day or they’re off their medication. Laurie’s ability to talk to those people and calm them down has been an invaluable service.”
Much of Cyr-Martel’s training and schooling is put into practical use in her book. But her experiences in Lewiston also show through as she tackles topics like schizophrenia, substance abuse, suicide, homicide, juvenile issues and death notices.
“This is the ultimate job for me here,” Cyr-Martel said. “It combines all of my background skills. And every day, it’s something new. The work is unpredictable.”
Five nights a week, Martel teams up with another Lewiston police officer and patrols the city. She stays close to the downtown area, but goes wherever she is needed. It might be somebody high on drugs and threatening mayhem. It may be a hostage situation or a suicide attempt. They are the kinds of situations where a police officer might be unsure how to proceed.
“It’s unfair because cops aren’t trained to be social workers, but they’re often expected to perform in that role all the time,” Cyr-Martel said. “If you don’t know how to handle a call, in all likelihood it’s not going to have a positive outcome.”
When Cyr-Martel was in grad school, she began compiling notes and data for a book. For four years, she sorted through it all, deciding what was relevant and what wasn’t. After joining the Lewiston police, she got the material together and got a positive response from Staggs Publishing, which specializes in lw enforcement manuals.
Cyr-Martel is already thinking about other projects. She said she may write similar books geared toward child protective-care providers, for instance. In the meantime, she’s happy working in Lewiston, trying to ease the pain of sufferers and making police work a little easier for the other officers.
“If they’ll have me and if the state keeps my position, I’ll probably be 80 years old and still out there on the bridges and trestles,” Cyr-Martel said. “It’s work I really enjoy. It’s a job I love.”