Baltimore County police officers say they find high value in crisis intervention training.Officer Joaquin Prudent has always wanted to be a police officer. He grew up in Parkville and hopes to one day patrol the streets in his home community. He’s starting his career in the Woodlawn Precinct after he graduated a year ago from the academy.”I just want(ed) to be part of a change. I know policing had a bad stigma,” said Prudent. He said there were two police officers in the neighborhood where he grew up who kept him on the right path. Their example motivated him to join the police department.Policing in today’s climate requires specialized training, especially when it involves mental help and people in the midst of behavioral or emotional crisis. The 11 News I-Team got an exclusive look at the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training at the Baltimore County Police Training Academy. Prudent was one of the officers who attended the training. “It was very eye opening, for me,” Prudent said. “I didn’t know too much about mental illness. I was very ignorant on the topic. I felt like I couldn’t really help people the way I needed to. I have friends, family who all suffer from mental illness and I could never understand where they were coming from, and so it would come off as I was cold, but I just didn’t understand.”Prudent said this training gave him perspective he needed to help people. “It gave me alternative solutions to help them, or to help other people i come in contact with on the beat,” Prudent said.In CIT training, officers spend a week on various mental health illnesses, de-escalation techniques and conflict resolution. They learn about traumatic brain injuries, addiction, veterans and PTSD, Alzheimer’s disease, gambling, death and grieving, and other kinds of trauma.In the weeks since the training, Prudent said he has put the lessons learned to good use. “I handled a sudden death. Obviously, those are very sensitive especially, you know, when you have family.” “The skills that I learned in that class helped me to better calm people down in these high stress situations,” said Prudent.”I think it’s really hard to relate to people sometimes, just with the judgment that’s in the world and I think the pressure that gets put on people, especially police officers,” said Perri Hooper, who helps coordinate the training.Prudent said his goal is to be an example to others and he knows police officers need to continue learning new skills to deal with whatever comes next.”The traditional way of policing is almost done,” said Prudent. “Long story short, the police department is evolving, so I think our job is going to be pretty much everything.”
Baltimore County police officers say they find high value in crisis intervention training.
Officer Joaquin Prudent has always wanted to be a police officer. He grew up in Parkville and hopes to one day patrol the streets in his home community. He’s starting his career in the Woodlawn Precinct after he graduated a year ago from the academy.
“I just want(ed) to be part of a change. I know policing had a bad stigma,” said Prudent.
He said there were two police officers in the neighborhood where he grew up who kept him on the right path. Their example motivated him to join the police department.
Policing in today’s climate requires specialized training, especially when it involves mental help and people in the midst of behavioral or emotional crisis.
The 11 News I-Team got an exclusive look at the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training at the Baltimore County Police Training Academy. Prudent was one of the officers who attended the training.
“It was very eye opening, for me,” Prudent said. “I didn’t know too much about mental illness. I was very ignorant on the topic. I felt like I couldn’t really help people the way I needed to. I have friends, family who all suffer from mental illness and I could never understand where they were coming from, and so it would come off as I was cold, but I just didn’t understand.”
Prudent said this training gave him perspective he needed to help people.
“It gave me alternative solutions to help them, or to help other people i come in contact with on the beat,” Prudent said.
In CIT training, officers spend a week on various mental health illnesses, de-escalation techniques and conflict resolution. They learn about traumatic brain injuries, addiction, veterans and PTSD, Alzheimer’s disease, gambling, death and grieving, and other kinds of trauma.
In the weeks since the training, Prudent said he has put the lessons learned to good use. “I handled a sudden death. Obviously, those are very sensitive especially, you know, when you have family.”
“The skills that I learned in that class helped me to better calm people down in these high stress situations,” said Prudent.
“I think it’s really hard to relate to people sometimes, just with the judgment that’s in the world and I think the pressure that gets put on people, especially police officers,” said Perri Hooper, who helps coordinate the training.
Prudent said his goal is to be an example to others and he knows police officers need to continue learning new skills to deal with whatever comes next.
“The traditional way of policing is almost done,” said Prudent. “Long story short, the police department is evolving, so I think our job is going to be pretty much everything.”
