{"id":11749,"date":"2017-06-12T18:29:06","date_gmt":"2017-06-12T23:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mentalhe180dev.wpenginepowered.com\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T08:22:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T13:22:11","slug":"tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/","title":{"rendered":"A Tragic Plea for More Mental Health Training for Law Enforcement"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Desmond Phillip was shot and killed by two Chico, Calif., police officers, the city\u2019s police department was not prepared to appropriately handle the situation. It might have been yet another tragic incident that could have been prevented, but community outcry and requests for more mental health crisis training for local law enforcement may change that. (\u201cChico Pleas for More Mental Health Training After Man Fatally Shot by Police<\/a>,\u201d ChicoER News, <\/em>March 25, 2017).<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a young man with serious brain and mental health issues who was in crisis. He was not a criminal,\u201d said Paul O\u2019Rourke-Babb, a local nurse practitioner who has worked in psychiatric care. \u201cThis death was both avoidable and unnecessary. This killing should never, ever happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phillips was diagnosed with epilepsy and post-traumatic stress disorder after a head injury sustained in 2015. On March 17, Phillips\u2019 father called 9-1-1 for help because his son was acting erratically. The two officers who arrived on scene first employed a stun gun, and later several bullets to diffuse the situation, killing Phillips.<\/p>\n

Lisa Currier, founder of Crisis Care Advocacy and Triage, said the county needs more people trained to handle and respond to mental health crises. Partnerships need to be improved and care needs to be emphasized.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to learn how to speak to [people in crisis]. We have to be able to de-escalate the situation. A lot of times (though not always), that\u2019s all it takes,\u201d Currier said.<\/p>\n

The recent trend of police shootings involving individuals with mental health problems is just one reason Mental Health First Aid has a specific module for law enforcement and public safety. This training\u2019s foundation rests upon the concept that all public safety professionals need to better understand mental illnesses and addictions and provides them with effective response options to de-escalate incidents without compromising safety.<\/p>\n

We firmly believe that more specialized training in mental health issues will lead to very different outcomes compared to Desmond Phillips\u2019 experience.\u00a0Get trained in Mental Health First Aid today and <\/span>#BeTheDifference<\/a> in your community.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Desmond Phillip was shot and killed by two Chico, Calif., police officers, the city\u2019s police department was not prepared to appropriately handle the situation. It might have been yet … Read more<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":11750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[188],"topic":[181,175],"news-type":[172],"class_list":["post-11749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-public-safety","topic-mhfa-training","topic-organizations","news-type-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Tragic Plea for More Mental Health Training for Law Enforcement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The recent trend of police shootings involving individuals with mental health problems shows the need for more mental health training for law enforcement.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Tragic Plea for More Mental Health Training for Law Enforcement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The recent trend of police shootings involving individuals with mental health problems shows the need for more mental health training for law enforcement.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mental Health First Aid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-12T23:29:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-13T13:22:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/shutterstock_518857189-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1706\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Erica Hoffman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erica Hoffman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Erica Hoffman\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/person\/25369d7bd3ed317cfb5e0bc2baa1a8ee\"},\"headline\":\"A Tragic Plea for More Mental Health Training for Law Enforcement\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-12T23:29:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-13T13:22:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/\"},\"wordCount\":353,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/shutterstock_518857189-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Public Safety\"],\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/\",\"name\":\"A Tragic Plea for More Mental Health Training for Law Enforcement\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/shutterstock_518857189-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-12T23:29:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-13T13:22:11+00:00\",\"description\":\"The recent trend of police shootings involving individuals with mental health problems shows the need for more mental health training for law enforcement.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/shutterstock_518857189-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/shutterstock_518857189-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Tragic Plea for More Mental Health Training for Law Enforcement\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/\",\"name\":\"Mental Health First Aid\",\"description\":\"Mental Health First Aid\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Mental Health First Aid\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/06\/mental-health-first-aid-logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/06\/mental-health-first-aid-logo.svg\",\"caption\":\"Mental Health First Aid\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/person\/25369d7bd3ed317cfb5e0bc2baa1a8ee\",\"name\":\"Erica Hoffman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2c9111e5cb6dce92c381ca8cb61d25a531bee20cb8db29e1ca8a51d1a38f8e7?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2c9111e5cb6dce92c381ca8cb61d25a531bee20cb8db29e1ca8a51d1a38f8e7?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Erica Hoffman\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Tragic Plea for More Mental Health Training for Law Enforcement","description":"The recent trend of police shootings involving individuals with mental health problems shows the need for more mental health training for law enforcement.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/","og_locale":"es_MX","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Tragic Plea for More Mental Health Training for Law Enforcement","og_description":"The recent trend of police shootings involving individuals with mental health problems shows the need for more mental health training for law enforcement.","og_url":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/","og_site_name":"Mental Health First Aid","article_published_time":"2017-06-12T23:29:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-13T13:22:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1706,"url":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/shutterstock_518857189-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Erica Hoffman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erica Hoffman","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/"},"author":{"name":"Erica Hoffman","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/person\/25369d7bd3ed317cfb5e0bc2baa1a8ee"},"headline":"A Tragic Plea for More Mental Health Training for Law Enforcement","datePublished":"2017-06-12T23:29:06+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-13T13:22:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/"},"wordCount":353,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/shutterstock_518857189-scaled.jpg","keywords":["Public Safety"],"inLanguage":"es-MX","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/","url":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/","name":"A Tragic Plea for More Mental Health Training for Law Enforcement","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/shutterstock_518857189-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2017-06-12T23:29:06+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-13T13:22:11+00:00","description":"The recent trend of police shootings involving individuals with mental health problems shows the need for more mental health training for law enforcement.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"es-MX","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es-MX","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/shutterstock_518857189-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/shutterstock_518857189-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1706},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/news\/tragic-plea-mental-health-training-law-enforcement\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Tragic Plea for More Mental Health Training for Law Enforcement"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/","name":"Mental Health First Aid","description":"Mental Health First Aid","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"es-MX"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#organization","name":"Mental Health First Aid","url":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es-MX","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/06\/mental-health-first-aid-logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/06\/mental-health-first-aid-logo.svg","caption":"Mental Health First Aid"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/person\/25369d7bd3ed317cfb5e0bc2baa1a8ee","name":"Erica Hoffman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es-MX","@id":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2c9111e5cb6dce92c381ca8cb61d25a531bee20cb8db29e1ca8a51d1a38f8e7?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2c9111e5cb6dce92c381ca8cb61d25a531bee20cb8db29e1ca8a51d1a38f8e7?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Erica Hoffman"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11749"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18446,"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11749\/revisions\/18446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11749"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=11749"},{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=11749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}