Rise In Mental Health Crises Lead To Police Training With Real Actors
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - First responders from across the Denver metro area Thursday were nearing the end of a weeklong crisis intervention training. May, Mental Health Month, is an opportunity to shine a light on the growing crisis they face every day.
"It's a long training, it's very intense training. It's a week long and trying to get 700 plus people scheduled to go through a week of training is tough," said Officer Keith Burke with Aurora Police.
Burke has been with the Aurora Police Department for 16 years. He says crisis intervention training was done only a few times a year. Now, with mental health calls increasing, the goal is to get all officers through the course.
"We used to go on one mental health crisis call a day, maybe, and they were very memorable -- and now, there are days where that's all we handle. Every call is a mental health crisis. I don't know why," said Burke.
APD even hires real actors through a company call TwoPenny Productions. The actors ad-lib with officers and and try to replicate real-life scenarios.
"What they're learning to do, with me, is communicate and find alternative ways of dealing with the situation without force," said actor Leonard Barrett.
Barrett says it's different than any other role. At first, it was hard to play a role that required him to yell at an officer. He's been an actor for the training for years now and no longer holds back.
"This calls for a totally different presentation because you can really come at them and they have to learn how to deal and handle with all of that."
Burke says it's great training for younger officers, most of whom are used to communicating through social media.
"Talking face to face can be difficult and getting in a situation like this forces you to learn to talk," said Burke.
To learn more about mental health resources within the City of Aurora as well as the city's critical response team (CRT), visit a special section of auroragov.org.