Crisis intervention training now mandatory for Bexar deputies 6-21-2011

Crisis intervention training now mandatory for Bexar deputies

By Eva Ruth Moravec
emoravec@express-news.net

Published 12:45 p.m., Monday, June 20, 2011 

Bexar County Sheriff's Office deputies have begun taking a now-mandatory crisis intervention training course, officials said.

Deputy Chief Roger Dovalina, who oversees the Bexar County Jail, said a $19,000 grant will allow BCSO to train more than 400 officers to interact better with people with mental illnesses. Two Fire Marshals' officers, eight detention officers and 16 patrol trainees were in the inaugural class for the 40-hour course that started Monday.

“You are our first responders,” Gilbert Gonzales, communication director for the Center for Health Care Services, told the class. “You can make the difference between treatment and jail.”
Kym Bolado, president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said San Antonio is now the only city in the country where both county deputies and police officers are required to take the course. Last October, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus made it mandatory for his officers.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Crisis-intervention-training-now-mandatory-for-1431963.php#ixzz1PwoCLYnO