WEST OLIVE, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – Better response from first responders to mental health crisis situations in Michigan may be coming in 2018.
According to a survey conducted by the state Mental Health Diversion Council, nearly a third of police agencies in Michigan admitted not having mental health or crisis intervention training for its officers, with two thirds of near 150 respondents agreeing that such training is “very important.” Ottawa County Sheriff Steve Kempker was appointed to this panel earlier this year by Governor Snyder, and during his monthly visit to “WHTC Talk of the Town” today, he told host Ed Ver Schure, “We’re basically the first responders to a mental health crisis, so we did a survey and we found that there is a need to start training officers how to deal with mentallly ill people when we go on these type of calls.”
The council has worked to create a crisis training curriculum which would give instruction to individuals that would be passed on to others. Results from this survey will be used for this statewide effort.
