Law enforcement officers from across the county graduated from the state Senate-sponsored Crisis Intervention Team training at Jamestown Community College on Friday. P-J photo by Katrina Fuller

Officers are often the first at the scene when someone is in crisis.

Thankfully, a recent training sponsored by the state Senate has graduated a class of 19 law enforcement officers from across Chautauqua County to help those in need.

On Friday, officers from the New York State Police, Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office, Dunkirk Police Department and Jamestown Police Departments graduated from the Crisis Intervention Team training, a class that provides first responders the knowledge and training to better deal with those in emotional crisis.

Sheriff James Quattrone and Dr. Don Kamin, facilitator of the class, offered certificates and pins to the officers as they graduated the class Friday.

Kamin said the local class is part of the Crisis Intervention Team program that is funded and sponsored by the state Senate.

“This part of the program is the week-long intensive training for law enforcement and related disciplines around recognizing and responding to mental illness and related disorders,” he said. “We talk about the different diagnostic categories, the overall general approach to interacting and responding to somebody who is upset or emotionally distressed. We talk a lot about communication techniques, slowing down, being empathic, developing a rapport, and connecting with individuals to help deescalate the situation.”

Kamin said the group also discussed the resources available to individuals and families.

“Sometimes that means bringing the person to the hospital, but many times that means calling the mobile crisis team or recommending to the person in the family that they follow up with other available resources in the county,” he said.

Quattrone said the class has been a collaborative effort.

“We like to say it’s beyond training — it’s a team effort,” he said. “This is one of the goals of CIT training. It’s diversion, not only a diversion from the jail but diversion from the emergency room. We can get community resources involved, which is more effective, I feel, for those who are in an emotional crisis and less costly as well.”

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist and State Sen. George Borrello were both on hand to thank the law enforcement officers and commend them on their hard work and dedication throughout the program.

“We’ve seen an unprecedented spike in mental health,” Borrello said. “For them to be able to have the training to ensure they can deescalate and properly handle the folks who are in crisis is very, very important. It certainly makes everyone more safe, and the community more safe. I am very proud that this program will go forward.”

Sunquist said he was thrilled to see so many city of Jamestown officers take part in the program.

“It’s really an incredible thing to see our officers join in this program that’s sponsored by New York state to really address mental health and mental health calls for service,” he said. “One of the things I said today at the graduation, in particular, was that calls checking on well-being or mental health calls are one of the top calls that we see in the city of Jamestown,” he said. “I’m honored for the city to be a part of and honored to continue that work with the police department to assist with mental health and know whether you need to bring in professionals to help support someone.”