It's widely recognized now that many emergency calls to police are about people in mental health crises. They need help from people with counseling or mental health experience, and police tend to have little of that. It can be even harder to provide such services in remote rural areas.
So the Yurok Tribal Police Department is gathering nearby law enforcement agencies for a weeklong session in Crisis Intervention Training, CIT. The training is meant to help police de-escalate tough situations, so people don't go to jail or the morgue.
Kelly Johnson is the Crisis Intervention Team Coordinator for the Yurok Tribal Police, and our guest. Johnson has extensive training and experience, including in handling cultural issues with a person in crisis.