Not all Utah officers get mental-crisis training

Published: Thursday, June 11, 2009 6:39 p.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 

Although some law enforcement officers across the state receive specific training that helps deal with a person experiencing a mental crisis, mental health officials say the number of officers receiving that training could be much higher.

That need for more training has left some wondering if the death of an Arizona man — Brian Cardall — who died this week after being hit with a Taser by a Hurricane police officer, could have possibly been avoided.

The Salt Lake Police Department provides crisis intervention training for police agencies across the state. Crisis intervention training helps officers who complete the course to identify characteristics of various mental disorders and teaches them how to adapt their approaches in those situations.

National Alliance on Mental Illness Utah's executive director Sherri Wittwer says Utah's 40-hour training program is the "gold standard" of training courses in that area.

"It is an excellent program that is available to agencies, but we need more of them to participate in that training," she said.

Hurricane police have repeatedly refused to provide details about what happened to Cardall, and the Washington County Critical Task Force is investigating the incident. It consists of a group of detectives from throughout the county that investigates homicides and police-related deaths.

Story continues below

What little information is known is that officers and medical personnel responded to a call for assistance with an agitated man on state Route 59 Tuesday. At some point, a Hurricane police officer deployed a Taser and Cardall, 32, lost consciousness. Cardall was treated within moments by paramedics but was pronounced dead after being transported to a local hospital.

Cardall is the son of KSL editorial director Duane Cardall.

Family members say Brian Cardall and his wife, who is six months pregnant, had been visiting his family in Salt Lake City. As they were driving home to Flagstaff, Ariz., his wife said Cardall, who is bipolar, was having an episode and that prompted them to pull over in order to medicate him.

At some point, Cardall got out of the vehicle and began to run down the road. That's when his wife called 911. She later learned he had been hit with a Taser and was unresponsive.

According to NAMI Utah, some rural and smaller agencies across the state have sent officers to receive the crisis intervention training, but the majority that have attended have been from the bigger cities across the Wasatch Front.

"It is valuable training that benefits people with mental illness, their families, the officers that respond to these incidents and the community as a whole," Wittwer said.

Recent comments

Not enough mental health training to around? That's nuts.

Anonymous | July 2, 2009 at 10:18 p.m.

We all know in this day and age, the first responders to a mental...

Ruth Pace | July 2, 2009 at 9:35 p.m.

The most valuable information about the use of tasers on the mentally...

Suzanne | June 12, 2009 at 12:48 p.m.

Image
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Roy officer Armando Perez, left, talks with detective Ron Bruno, who is playing a mentally ill patient with a knife, in a 2006 training exercise in Farr West. The issue of more police training has been raised after the death of Brian Cardall.

previousnext

Latest comments

White House mocks Sarah Palin

Palin's strong pro-citizen values and integrity are exactly what politics...

Way to go utah- the best news for you is that you at least didn't lose a game...

It's a natural occurance for chucks of ice the size of small states to...

NH against gay marriage repeal

I think that comment went a little bit over your head. Simply because an...

Well put. I am the opposite. I lived in Utah and now live in Louisiana. I...

Don't weaken booster seat law

@Anonymous1:49p.m.: "Yes, it takes planning, which a lot of people don't...

re - legitimizing behavior | 4:20 p.m actually, it is the same poster...

Wrong, that's not how I read the criticisms. The criticism is not that the...

Editorial: Air standards changing

Beans | 4:04 p.m. Conservatives aren't the only ones who object to the...

Lawmakers question climate change

There is no such thing as man-made global warming. I know this. So did...

Advertisements