Crisis Intervention Officers

Some Pittsburgh Police officers are learning to respond to youth with mental health disorders.

The officers, who have all undergone a forty-hour crisis intervention training undergo an additional eight hour training where they take a crash course in child psychiatry -learning about social and emotional development, mental health disorders and what services are available for children and teenagers in the county. They also learn how to speak to children and about medications and their side effects.

Youth with mental health problems often come in contact with the police for behavior that can be the result of their disorders.

The training is a partnership between Allegheny County's Department of Behavioral Health and The Pittsburgh Police Bureau.

Fifty officers will be trained in the youth portion of the problem.

Listen to a longer version of the story HERE