According to the National Institute of Mental health…

One in five Americans suffer from some form of mental illness, and over 40% of Americans have to deal with untreated mental illness’ at some point in their lives. According to John Hopkins, about 25% of American adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year, and one in ten will suffer from a depressive illness, such as major depresion or bipolar disorder. Add to that the 20% of students aged 12-18 who report being bullied each year, and the 30% of individuals who experience partner abuse at least once in a lifetime, and the population at risk of an acute socai or psychological breakdown nears 50% over the course of a persons lifetime.  

Unfortunately these Individuals as well as those with intellectual & cognitive inabilities face difficulties following traditional police directives and orders, which can include family members , co-workers, partners, neighbors, teachersand students, are 16X more likely to be injured , or worse during police encounters -10% of which involve individuals with mental illness o emotional disturbances -often just for presenting behaviors that appear to be threatening, frantic, or unpredictable to uninformed officers. Worse, 25%-50% of all fatal police shootings involve individuals with untreated mental illness. 

Tragically though, instead of these individuals being treated compassionately and appropriately for their neurodivergence or situational jeopardy, they’re often mistreated on scene, and/or funneled unhelpfully into the criminal justice system.

An intergrated social response system that administers instructional, approriate and compassionate resources & assistance to those in need while protecting the community, first responders, as well as civil and individual rights.

De-escalation

*An individual with a severe stutter was pulled over for speeding. The stress of being pulled over triggered his stutter, and so the police perceived him as being belligerent and uncooperative. So they pulled him out of the car, and as the individual’s anxiety grew, he became more resistant and difficult to communicate with. As a result, the police arrested him and took him to jail-threatening to charge him with resisting arrest. He was booked. At his arraignment, the individual was able to present documentation of his individualized Evaluation Plan (IEP) which described his stutter, and how it is exacerbated by stressful circumstances - which the judge understood included being pulled over by the police. But what should have been a routine traffic shop, with the individual simply being given a ticket of a warning, became an arrest and an arraignment because the individual had no way of alerting the police to his condition, and the police had no access to records explaining his disability.

Benefits:

Certain individuals - because of cognitive or mental non-normativity - don’t understand police prompts and/or react in a way that the police incorrectly perceive as threatening and/or uncooperative. By providing fast and convenient access to medical information and an action plan, the Tekqlous system enables a rapid de-escalation, as well as a safer and more positive encounter.

Enhancing Self-Control and Deference to Authority:

*An alternative high school specializes in working with teens who don’t deal well with authority. Most of the time, the school’s traditional approach works well, things don’t get out of hand, and the school does a good job of educationg their students. But given that many students act out becasue they don’t feel heard, respected, or in control, small issues can spiral out of control, and escalate.

Needs:
A major challenge for these schools is preventing those students who are at the more extreme end of the spectrum, and who are not as responsive to traditional approaches, from falling out of the program. In addition, traditional interventions are often too late, or are engaged when the damage has already been done. 

Benefits:
By being able to alert a family member, a social services advocate, or other support person on-demand, the TEKQ  user is assured that someone is always available, always listening, and can respond in real-time - before things escalate. This gives the individual confidence that someone cares and is listening. And it gives the school a vital tool for de-escalation - dramatically reducing the failure rate. 

Expecting - and Dealing With - the Unexpected 

*Certain individuals are able to function well under normal circumstances, but because of an underlying cognitive disability they may become disoriented and confused when something in the environment is out of place, or when something unexpected occurs. While they may recognize that they need help, their fearful, aggressive or withdrawn response may be misinterpreted by people who are near them.

Needs:
Being able to trigger an alert, either to a nearby family member, social services or the police when an individual is distressed may be all they are capable of doing at the time. That is, they may not be able to explain their need to a stranger, but if they had an “emergency alert” button, it could call for help, and the appropriate person can respond appropriately.

Benefits:
TekQ’s SOS Alert button can enable individuals who can handle most public encounters well, but who may get triggered occasionally (say, by bullying, or a random bump on the street), to function much more often and much more successfully in public. Rather than panicking, and rather than staying home, the individual can carry their support system with them and live a fuller life.

Responding with the Right Responder:

*An individual with schizophrenia was living with their elderly parents. Because of a domestic disturbance, the police were called by a neighbor. Not knowing the situation, the police were compelled to open the door by force, with their weapons drawn. 

Needs:
There are many situations where, if the police knew more about the people involved, they would prefer to bring a social services case worker, or know that it could be easily de-escalated. But because the call came in to 911, they had no way of responding other than by treating it as a potentially dangerous situation. If the information about the individual was available to the first responder, they could have arrived with the appropriate level of force, and a social worker who could de-escalate the situation and handle it more appropriately.

Benefits:
If the person ( and household) is registered with Tekqlous, and the precinct has access to the app - either on their phone or via an API into their dispatch system, or by scanning a QR code at the door - then they would know while in route, or upon arriving, to bring social services or, at least, how best to respond.
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