Local law enforcement officers can now bring additional training to situations in their community where the subject of a call to the police may be having a mental health crisis.

Ten law enforcement officers and two dispatchers lined up Friday to receive pins designating them as having received Crisis Intervention Team training at the Powell Valley Community Education building. 

The 14th Crisis Intervention Team graduated last Friday with class members that included Powell and Cody police officers, deputies from Park and Big Horn counties and two Uinta County law enforcement officers.

“The whole concept of the crisis intervention team is bringing all of our stakeholders together within the community as a team to deal with and address mental health crises within our communities,” Powell Police Chief Roy Eckerdt said. “So the training itself is 40 hours of training for law enforcement.”

Eckerdt said the goal of the academy is for officers to be able to recognize behaviors that may indicate that an individual is experiencing a mental health crisis. Then the officer can determine whether or not an incident is a mental health or criminal issue and proceed appropriately.

Yellowstone Behavioral Health provides training free of charge and other health care providers and speakers also participate, including county attorney Bryan Skoric.

“The long term goal is to recognize that this is a criminal issue or a mental health issue and if it’s a mental health issue, get them the mental health resources that they need, as opposed to just addressing the criminal side,” Eckerdt said. “Now, that’s not a get out of jail free card, it doesn’t mean they don’t have to deal with whatever crime took place.”

In Park County the goal is to have 75% of officers obtain CIT training, this way an officer with the appropriate training will be on duty at all times. 

Eckerdt said that the program is now established to the point that callers will request CIT trained officers who are identifiable by a pin on their uniform.  

“I get feedback from the community where the family members, and even someone with the experience recognize that the officer had this additional training just based on the interaction that they had and the eventual outcome,” Eckerdt said.