photo by: Nick Krug

A Lawrence police vehicle is pictured in a file photo from December 2017.

Three years after the Lawrence police department first committed to providing all officers mental health crisis intervention training, that goal has not been reached, but police say they remain committed to providing the training.

Another 14 officers attended the 40-hour crisis intervention training this week, bringing the percentage of officers trained to about 79 percent, according to Police Sgt. Amy Rhoads. Rhoads said in an email to the Journal-World that the department is committed to training all of its approximately 150 police officers, but that turnover means the department likely won’t reach 100 percent.

“However, with the hiring of new officers and back to back academies, reaching a 100% at one specific timeframe is likely not obtainable as retirements and natural attrition, causes the department to consistently hire and train new recruits and police officers,” Rhoads said.

Former Police Chief Tarik Khatib originally made the goal to provide all officers mental health crisis intervention training in 2015. Khatib told commissioners in January of last year that about half of officers had received training, and that the goal was to have all officers go through the training by 2018.

As part of the training, Rhoads said different speakers from various agencies provide classroom instruction on topics related to behavioral health, including mental health, substance abuse, self-care and de-escalation. She said the last day of the training includes scenario-based training, which involves de-escalation and crisis management, as well as defensive tactics for some situations.

In June, after a Lawrence police officer shot a man during an altercation that began with a traffic stop, Commissioner Leslie Soden asked, among other things, that crisis intervention training and de-escalating techniques be provided to all officers.

So far this year, officers have responded to more than 1,650 calls for service that were mental health-related, according to Rhoads. Those calls represent about 3 percent of the approximately 66,600 service calls received year to date, according to data Rhoads provided the Journal-World.

Rhoads said that, though there are many benefits to the training, the most significant is that it gives officers a chance to learn about mental health issues and effective communication with someone who is in a mental health crisis. She said the training also provides information about community resources that are available to those experiencing or affected by mental health and substance use problems.

When asked why the training part isn’t a component of the Lawrence police department academy so that all new officers have the training starting out, Rhoads said that was the recommendation of crisis response trainers. She said recruits do receive several hours of mental-health-related training as part of the core curriculum, but crisis intervention trainers have recommended the full training be provided separately, based on the guidelines and recommendations set forth by CIT International.