Comments about ‘Police should all have mental-health training’

I agree that more CIT training should be done by all Police, Sheriff and UHP officers. This is a tragic situation for all. The National Alliance of the Mentally Ill (NAMI) advocates for such training and has such training. Family and friends and those suffering from mental illness can be helped by the NAMI programs Family to Family, Bridges (for those suffering from mental illness) and training for police officers. Our jails and prisons have become the "mental institutions" de facto since hospitalization and institution times have been shortened in recent years. With our mental health system in crisis and funds cut it is imperative that we train law enforcement because they are going to be dealing with the mentally ill more frequently now that the system is in shambles. I also think we should look seriously at the use of tasars in law enforcement. Are they used too much and too quickly? Mental health training is much needed to avoid situations such as this.

Mental illness is so misunderstood by so many. Often, people think that those with mental illness are a threat to others. The fact is that those with mental illness are more likely to be the victims of crime rather than the perpetrator. With CIT training, officers can better understand the causes of mental illness and how to deal with crises, including protecting the person with the illness. I agree with Cortez that the CIT training should be expanded, even a necessary part of officer training. Doing so would help officers to respond more appropriately to mental health crisis situations.

The Crisis Intervention Team training is vital to help officers understand mental illness and how to respond. I wholeheartedly support expanding the training to all officers.