7^^
Yvette Baimen
linda Corsmeier
Carolyn Gibson Lauffer
Susan Walsh
PKS Police Bulletin
(Continued from page 3)
The One Mind Campaign seeks to ensure successful interactions between law
enforcement and individuals with mental health conditions. The initiative
focuses on uniting local communities, public safety organizations and mental
health organizations so that the three become of one mind.-To join the
campaign, law enforcement agencies must pledge to implement three promising
practices over a 12- to 36-month time frame. These practices include:
1) Establishing a clearly defined and sustainable partnership with one or more
community health organizations
2) Developing and implementing a model policy addressing law enforcement
response to individuals with mental health conditions
3) Training and certifying 100 percent of sworn officers in mental health
awareness courses.
I am proud to report that your law enforcement agency in Pine Knoll Shores
has been recognized as one of the few One Mind Campaign agencies in North
Carolina. We have signed a memorandum of understanding with Integrated
Family Services, an approved model policy, and 100% of our officers, including
part-time officers, are trained in Crisis Intervention Team Training. Crisis
Intervention Team Training, or CIT, is a 40-hour training course that is designed
as a jail diversion program and helps officers identify an individual in crisis and
get them to medical help faster. The national standard is for departments to train
20% of their staff in CIT. I wUl never strive for anything less then 100% because
I believe it is beneficial to our residents, visitors and officers. According to the
National Alliance on Mental Health, one in five Americans lives with a mental
health condition, and one in 20 Americans lives with a serious mental health
condition. These are our relatives, friends and neighbors.
One resource that we desperately need more of in our communities is more
mental health care providers and emergency bed spaces. There are a very limited
number of bed spaces available in North Carolina, especially in eastern North
Carolina, for individuals in a mental health crisis. We simply do not have the
community resources that we need, which sadly means our officers are routinely
interacting with the same individuals in crisis over and over. Please keep this in
mind when you talk to elected officials at the local, state and federal level.
Our officers demonstrate patience, restraint and empathy when responding to
these types of situations, and I could not be more proud of their efforts. Mental
health conditions impact people from every ethnic group, socio-economic
group, people of all ages, and males and females alike. It does not discriminate.
Before judging anyone, remember that you do not know what that person has
gone through or what their life experience has been.
Good numbers to keep on hand: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-
273-8255 and Suicide and Crisis line: Dial 988.
PIKSCO Happenings
By Tom Kowalski
The PIKSCO Board of Directors would like to wish everyone Happy Holidays
and a Happy New Year. Hopefully, everyone was able to enjoy some events that
were held in our parks over the last couple of months, which included Music in
the Park, the annual Turkey Trot and the Christmas Flotilla. We love our parks
and our local events; please continue to help keep the parks beautiful by always
leaving them better than you found them.
As we reported last month, we are looking at placing a living sea wall at Gar
ner Park to help protect the shoreline. Living sea walls can be made with three
different types of materials: bagged oyster shells, granite or man-made quick
reef PIKSCO may be eligible for a grant of $55/foot, or a max of $10,000, in the
building of the sea wall through the North Carolina Coastal Federation (NCCF).
We are currently waiting on quotes for all three options; however, we have been
told that the cost of sea walls ranges from $130 to $200 per foot, so we will need
to come up with between $75 and $145 per square foot, plus. If you are inter
ested in more information on the types of living seawalls, visit NCCF’s website at
nccoast.org.
We are also discussing, watching and researching options for the sea wall at
McNeill Park. While the wall has not completely failed, it is always something
that we need to be watching closely.
Please be invested in your homeowners association. Our meetings are held
the third Monday of the month at
5:30 p.m. at McNeill Park (weather
permitting) or at town hall. If you are
a PIKSCO member, please be certain
that we have a current email address
on file so you will receive our news
letters, which are sent via email.
PIKSCO contact. For questions,
concerns, to express a willingness
to volunteer or to offer feedback,
please feel free to contact our Secre
tary/Treasurer Erica Reed by call/text
at 252-247-4818, email at piksco@
gmail.com, through our website at
piksco.com or by mail at PO Box 366,
Atlantic Beach, NC 28512.
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December 2022 I The Shoreline 11