Mental Health Crisis Recognition and Response

We teach our students the basics of suspected mental impairment and how to respond to emergencies involving such individuals. We use suspected impairment because diagnosing a disorder requires assessments and interviews in a controlled environment, such as an office or hospital.

The field is not a controlled environment, and officers are not qualified to diagnose disorders, only to suspect them after proper training. We provide that training.

We train our students to recognize behavioral characteristics that may align with some personality disorders and how to approach these individuals based on those characteristics. When attempts at de-escalation may be inappropriate, immediate on-scene intervention and transport to a hospital become necessary.