Bend Police traffic officer John Beck talks on his coiled mic radio in 2018.

Though the Bend Police Department canceled a recent training course on interacting with people in mental health crisis, officials say the department intends to put 100% of its officers through crisis intervention training in 2022.

Focused on the link between law enforcement and community mental health, crisis intervention training is novel in that it’s led by experts in mental health, including instructors with the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

The 40-hour course has been offered at the Bend Police Department since 2010.

Currently, 70% of Bend officers have completed it.

Past trainings have featured speakers who’ve encountered police while experiencing psychosis. They provide an often powerful and memorable lesson for officers, according to Bend officer Kecia Weaver, a member of the department’s mental-health focused Crisis Response Team who helps lead crisis intervention training.

“They talk about how they weren’t trying to be dangerous, and they appreciated the times they were treated well, versus being yelled at,” Weaver said. “They talk about how clear, simple directions, and one person talking at a time, helps reduce the chaos they are experiencing.”

The department’s training schedule suffered this year as a result of the retirement of 30-year department veteran Sgt. Liz Lawrence, who helped coordinate crisis intervention training and has yet to be replaced.

Next year, the office has scheduled three weeklong crisis intervention training courses in March, July and October. Funding for the training will come from the department’s operational budget, according to Bend Police spokeswoman Lt. Juli McConkey.

The effort represents one of Chief Mike Krantz’s top goals, she said.

Since the county mental health stabilization center opened in June 2020, 500 people have been dropped off there by law enforcement, demonstrating a great need in the community, according to Deschutes County mental health coordinator Holly Harris.

Supporters of criminal justice reform have called for increased training in mental health issues and conflict de-escalation, especially after conflicts when police are violent with suspects.

A Bend Police officer, Kevin Uballez, was indicted in an ongoing police brutality case. In June, Uballez allegedly slammed a man’s head into the ground during an arrest. That man, Caleb Hamlin, has informed the city he also intends to sue.

It’s only the second time Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel has charged an active law enforcement officer for alleged on-duty behavior. In the other instance, former Sunriver Chief Marc Mills pleaded no contest to harassment for striking one of his sergeants in the chest with a road sign in 2017.