WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the lack of mental health crisis services across the U.S. has resulted in law enforcement officers serving as first responders to most crises.
One local sheriff's department is expanding efforts to help better serve those struggling.
The Luzerne County Sheriff's Department now has more than 10 deputies certified in what's called a "Crisis Intervention Team" (CIT) Program.
It's a national training conducted locally that helps law enforcement better respond to mental health crises.
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Deputy Sheriff Kim Curcio was certified in CIT in 2023. She says she uses the skills from the training daily.
"For instance, we could be in a courtroom and somebody shows up for a court proceeding walking in off the streets. They may be remanded for the judge for failure to do something, and now they're going to be incarcerated," said Curcio.
CIT gives law enforcement practical communication and de-escalation skills to help someone experiencing a mental health crisis.
"It could be something as simple as just moving to the side of them instead of a confrontational pose. Off to the side vs. face to face, that just calms them down," Curcio continued.
Luzerne County Sheriff Brian Szumski says the program has been shown to help officers limit their use of force and help build better relationships with the community.
"Additionally, it's officer safety. So again, it goes back to making sure that they're able to handle things in a safe way without using force, and again, the biggest thing is it decreases use of force situations," Sheriff Szumski said.
Members of the department have been attending trainings for the past few years, and the certification takes two weeks to complete.
"Our goal is to have the entire department trained. Every deputy we would like to eventually put through the training," Sheriff Szumski added.
Ensuring better outcomes for everyone involved.
Anyone struggling with a mental health crisis can find help by dialing 211 or 988.
