TEMPLE, TX (September 9, 2022) – The Temple Police Department has received a certification from the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) for completing the One Mind Campaign. This initiative requires law enforcement agencies to implement four practices that increase successful interactions between police officers and persons with mental health conditions in a 12-to-36-month period.

Since committing to this initiative, the Temple Police Department has established a sustainable partnership with Central County Services, a local mental health organization where the department has a qualified mental health provider embedded into the organization. Temple Police also developed and implemented a model policy to address officers’ interactions with individuals with mental health conditions, and ensured that all officers received mental health awareness training, with at least 20% of the department completing more intensive crisis response training. The 40-hour crisis intervention curriculum trains officers to respond to calls that involve individuals with mental health conditions, learn a variety of de-escalation techniques and participate in live role-play scenarios where officers respond to persons experiencing crisis due to mental health.

“Our department must respond to mental health crisis calls properly,” said Temple Police Chief Shawn Reynolds. “The crisis intervention training provided our officers additional knowledge to utilize in the field, and the partnership allows us to work with mental health professionals right here in the community. Together, we can achieve our goal of handling all calls for service appropriately and keeping the community safe.”

Posted by Central Counties Services on Wednesday, September 14th, 2022 @ 9:22AM
Categories: News