By Bill Raack, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – The St. Louis County Police Department has become the first the in the area to develop so-called "crisis intervention teams."
Officers will be trained to deal with those who appear to be suffering from a form of mental illness or disorder. The department's Cpt. Robert Trittler says training programs are underway to teach officers how to safely deal with such individuals.
"There may be clues that would be indicators to them that this individual may be suffering from some type of mental illness or maybe some type of situation such as drug overdose or drug abuse or alcohol abuse that caused this mental crisis," he said. Trittler says the county's program is modeled after those in Memphis and Kansas City, which he says have been very successful. Sixty officers with the St. Louis County Police Department began training Monday for the formation of the C.I.T's. The new effort was prompted by mental health groups in the area, who say that many criminals suffer from a form of mental illness. "The CIT officers will be trained to de-escalate situations that normally a patrol officer may or may not have been aware of exactly how to handle these types of calls," Trittler added. The hope is for St. Louis County to train up to 50% of its police officers in crisis intervention over the next two years.