Why mental health training for law enforcement isn't enough

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Jun 16, 2014

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Why mental health training for law enforcement isn't enough

Ventura County has given numerous law enforcement officers 40 hours of training in how to deal with the mentally disturbed. But there are still cracks in the system.

Inmates await treatment at the new mental health treatment unit at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013. The $24 million treatment center for mentally ill inmates opened on Thursday as state corrections officials used the occasion to push for ending federal oversight of that aspect of prison operations. The 44,000-square-foot building includes rooms where inmates will undergo individual, group and recreational outpatient therapy. It will be used to treat inmates who are seriously mentally ill but are able to function without around-the-clock care.

Ventura County has given numerous law enforcement officers 40 hours of training in how to deal with the mentally disturbed. But there are still cracks in the system.

Tragedies such as the homicides in Isla Vista and the Kelly Thomas death in Orange County have raised the issue of how well police are trained to deal with the mentally ill. Some departments have beefed up their training.

But KPCC's Stephanie O'Neill reports that still doesn't guarantee success.