DETROIT (WWJ) -- Detroit police officers are receiving new mental-health-related training as the department expands its Crisis Intervention Team.
Detroit Police Chief James White says about 30% of calls the department receives involve what he calls a “mental health nexus,” with residents in need of support services.
That’s why the expansion of the CIT training program is so important -- “otherwise, you’ve got officers dealing with something that at one point -- years ago when I came on -- was not part of our training. Now it’s woven into our academy training.” he says.
Members of the department’s 8th Precinct are now in training with the program, which is run with the support of the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network and mental health professionals. That precinct will be the fifth to receive the training, which White hopes will be completed department-wide sometime in 2023.
The goal is to better prepare officers to deliver mental health services to those in need within the community.
“Over half the people incarcerated are suffering from some sort of mental health crisis, and so it’s here in policing and we have to deal with it,” White said Monday. “We have to have officers who are trained to deal with it, and wishing it away is not the answer -- we have to be proactive.”
The CIT recently received a $240,000 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, according to a story from WDIV in Detroit.
Thanks to the grant, officers will undergo a 40-hour block of training to better deal with those struggling with mental health. The CIT’s website says the program will help officers grow their knowledge of signs, symptoms and risk factors of mental illnesses and addictions.
It also helps them identify multiple types of professional and self-help resources for individuals with a mental health or substance-use challenge, increase their confidence in and likelihood to help an individual in distress, as well as show increased mental wellness themselves.
White says without the emphasis on mental health training, both officers and the community would be at greater risk.
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