SLO police officers will get more mental health training

Over the next 36 months, officers with the San Luis Obispo Police Department will undergo increased training about how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illness and substance use disorders as part of a national law enforcement campaign.

Citing a large volume of police contacts involving people suffering from mental illness and related side effects, the department announced in a news release Wednesday that it is participating in the International Association of Chiefs of Police's "One Mind" pledge, in which agencies agree to four best practices to better respond to and prevent incidents committed by and against the mentally ill.

As part of the pledge, the department over the next 12 to 36 months plans to establish a partnership with one or more community mental health organizations, and craft and implement written policies guiding officer response to persons affected by mental illness.

It will also train and certify each of the department's sworn officers and certain non-sworn staff in Mental Health First Aid for Public Safety, an eight-hour course administered by the National Council for Behavioral Health. It teaches officers how to respond to signs of mental illness and "provide initial help and support to someone who may be developing a mental health or substance use problem or experiencing a crisis." The program's website says that more than 1 million people have received the training in the U.S.

Lastly, the department will provide Crisis Intervention Team training to at least 20 percent of its sworn officers and selected non-sworn staff.

According to Wednesday's news release, the department has been actively training its officers to meet the challenge and calls it one of its top goals. To date, almost 70 percent of San Luis Obispo officers have received the training, according to the news release.

In San Luis Obispo County, recent failures to address the mentally ill in the criminal justice system have been highlighted by a series of County Jail deaths and an ongoing FBI investigation.

The county has begun implementing a series of reforms, and the SLO Police Department — which originates a large percentage of chronic mentally ill cases booked into County Jail — has recently taken additional steps to improve its service to people with mental illness.

More information about the One Mind Pledge can be found at mentalhealthfirstaid.org/i-pledge.

This story was originally published June 20, 2018 at 4:55 PM with the headline "SLO police officers will get more mental health training."