A new proposal would set aside $7 million to ensure all police officers in Minnesota would undergo formal deescalation and safety training focused on handling situations involving a person with mental illness.
The bill, which has bipartisan support, would include mandatory training in crisis intervention, conflict management and cultural issues surrounding mental illness for all of the state’s 10,500 officers. The goal of training is to shift away from lethal and forceful intervention techniques when handling certain situations involving some patients with a mental illness.
Our officers “need a better understanding of how to diffuse what are often tense situations,” said Andy Skoogman of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association. The MCPA have already come out in support of the bill.
Increased Number Of Mental Health Calls
One of the driving forces behind the proposal is the fact that there have been an uptick in mental health-related calls in recent years. Additionally, a report from the Star-Tribune found that at least 45 percent of the people killed by officers since 2000 had a history of mental illness or were suffering from a mental health crisis. In 2015 alone, nine of the 13 individuals who died at the hands of officers in Minnesota had a history of mental illness.
Similar to the majority of states in the US, Minnesota currently does not require officers to undergo mental health crisis response training. Previous pushes to have department-funded training courses have failed.
“It is expensive training. The state needs to increase its investments; it can’t fall on all local government,” said Nathan Gove, executive director of the Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), which licenses officers in the state’s 439 agencies and supports the bill.
Aside from saving lives, proponents of the proposal say the training could actually save departments and local governments millions of dollars in excessive force or injury lawsuits.
What The Bill Requires
The bill, which is expected to be passed by the House next week, would require all officers to complete a minimum of 16 hours of training on crisis intervention, mental illness awareness, conflict management and cultural issues within a three-year police licensing cycle. Currently, the closest thing to mental health training that police undergo is use of force training.
Some departments across the state are are exploring adding mental health professionals to their staff in order to assist during instances where social services could be beneficial.
Hopefully the bill is passed, because individuals with mental health issues often get the short end of the stick when it comes to their needs in the criminal justice system.
