Law enforcement officers from the Columbus Police Department, Columbus Regional Health and the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department pose for a photo while participating in a 40-hour course on mental health crisis intervention techniques.
Submitted photo
Last week, several area law enforcement officers including 13 from the Columbus Police Department completed a weeklong crisis intervention course that focused on better serving members of the public who are experiencing a mental health crisis.
In total, 20 local law enforcement officers from the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, Columbus Regional Health Police Department, and the Columbus Police Department completed a 40-hour training course that focused on steps that officers can take to limit use-of-force incidents as well as reduce the number of persons entering the criminal justice system who are experiencing mental health problems.
Since the inception of CPD’s Crisis Intervention Team in 2021, 24 CPD officers have competed the weeklong training course, which features a number of guest speakers and several scenario training sessions that focus on de-escalation techniques.
Education and food sponsors who assisted with this year’s class include Centerstone Health Services, Columbus Regional Health, Starbucks West, Lucabee Coffee Company, Donut Central and the Foundation for Law Enforcement Chaplaincy.
