The University of Wyoming Police Department (UWPD) uses several mental health related training programs to assist offices and to improve the quality of their service. The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) are among the most useful programs.
CIT is a community partnership of law enforcement, mental health, addiction professionals, individuals who live with mental illness and/or addiction disorders, families and other advocates.
According to CIT International’s official website, it is an innovative first-responder model of police-based crisis intervention training to help persons with mental disorders and/or addictions access medical treatment rather than place them in the criminal justice system due to illness related behaviors. Officer safety and the safety of the individual in crisis is also promoted.
UWPD has been using the training program since 2010, providing psychological assistance to offices as well as to train them with de-escalation skills.
“We’ve been conducting the training for almost seven to eight years now,” UWPD Sergeant Avery Cowardin said. “It mainly deals with people in crisis. For instance, people with bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety.”
The training includes scenario based exercises.
“Basic CIT training is a 40-hour course,” Cowardin said. “At the end of each training day, we have role playing scenarios to reinforce what we have learned earlier that day. We also learn lots of de-escalation skills, for people who are in crisis. That’s essentially what the CIT program is designed for.”
The training is conducted in collaboration with several other institutions.
“This has been done in collaboration with Laramie police department, UW counselling, Peak Wellness Center, the sheriff department, IMH and the Albany County Attorney’s Office,” Cowardin said.
ASIST, according to its official website, is a training program that is designed to train participants to recognize when someone may have thoughts of suicide and work with them to create a plan that will support their immediate safety.
“We’ve been sending officers to the ASIST program for the last three to four years,” Cowardin said. “Almost half of our officers have had the ASIST training, since we have officers leaving and new ones coming. There is a new session coming up at the beginning of next year, so we are planning to send more officers to that as well.”
These mental health programs are not only helpful for the officers themselves, but also, it has been helpful to understand the people they are dealing with.
UWPD benefits from mental health training
