The Tuscaloosa Police Department was recently recognized for its leadership in expanding mental health crisis response training at the Alabama Chiefs of Police Conference.
TPD was awarded with the Excellence in Mental Health Award through the VittAL initiative, which recognizes departments that have a strong commitment to mental health first aid training and enhancing their response to mental health related crisis calls.
“This training helps us recognize when someone needs help and how we can connect them with treatment and other resources,” said TPD Acting Chief Sebo Sanders. “We often see firsthand that approach can change and sometimes even save people’s lives.”
TPD has been committed to training more than 300 personal and staff through 16 Mental Health First Aid sessions focused on helping to identify mental health challenges, safely de-escalate crisis situations and connect people with appropriately needed support sources and resources. TPD has not only focused on providing training for patrol officers but also dispatchers, investigators and administrative staff throughout the department. With expansions being made to their personal Behavior Intervention Team, TPD added two social workers who can assist officers when they respond to mental health-related calls.
“The Tuscaloosa Police Department appreciates this recognition and the work that VitAL does to strengthen how first responders address mental health needs,” Sanders said.