The Price City Police Department, with partner Four Corners Behavioral Health, conducted its annual 40-hour training throughout the week of May 1.
This training is geared toward teaching officers from Carbon, Emery, Grand and San Juan counties how to correctly handle and diffuse situations that possibly concern individuals with a mental illness. Statistically, 1 in 5 people have some sort of mental illness, whether it is diagnosed or not.
Price City Officer Kelly Maynes was given the honor of being the regional coordinator for the training this year. Maynes assists in teaching mental health training at the police academy. The training, which began in 2000, was brought into the area around 2010 and takes officers through a multitude of possible everyday scenarios.
These scenarios range from a jumper that believes his shoes can bounce, a woman that believes her neighbor is photographing her and more. The officers are given the opportunity to diffuse the situation in a calm and effective manner. After the scenario, they are then taken into a room for a debriefing of the situation.
“It helps you to be a better officer,” Maynes said.
