Police training in crisis intervention paying off
January 16, 2014
The Spokane Police Department has recently introduced weeklong Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) to the comprehensive suicide prevention efforts taking place through the Spokane Regional Health District, police, nonprofits, schools, and other organizations. It involves sessions with local mental health professionals, mock training scenarios, and conversations with people who are mentally ill. More than half of the department has taken the training, and by early 2014 all of the 300 officers are scheduled to complete it. In addition, Spokane Police Department officers meet regularly with a team of mental health professionals in the community and are collaborating with Washington State University researchers on training scenarios for dealing with people in crisis. One recent success from these efforts was an incident where CIT-trained Spokane police officers were able to talk a man out of jumping from a bridge and into getting mental health care after using tactics they learned in the training, including building trust and rapport, listening, calming, and offering alternatives and resources.
Spark Extra: Learn more about The Role of Law Enforcement Officers in Preventing Suicide