WARREN — A class of 12 police officers from Trumbull County departments is scheduled to complete crisis intervention training with the mental health and recovery board this month.

The class will bring the total number of officers trained in the county’s program, which was created to help officers interact more safely with people, to 300 since it was implemented in 2006, said John Myers Jr., director of planning and evaluation for the Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board.

“Three hundred in a county this size is quite remarkable,” Myers said.

A total of 32 police organizations have sent officers for training, including state organizations with a presence in the county and several medical treatment centers in the county with police officers. With 75 officers trained, the Warren City Police Department has sent the most of any department for training.

“When you get right down to it, CIT training is about improving safety — for officers, for people in crisis and for the community. We provide information on mental health and substance use disorders from professionals and from folks in recovery, on services that are available in our community, and on basic skills for working with people in crisis. Collectively these things make for a safer community,” Myers said.

Other departments that have sent 10 or more officers for the training are the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office with 55, the Howland Township Police Department with 24, the Hubbard Township Police Department with 18, the Niles City Police Department with 17, the Liberty Township Police Department with 12 and the Hubbard City Police Department with 10.

Departments in Braceville and McDonald, and the Ohio State Penitentiary, the Trumbull County Juvenile Justice Center and Akron Children’s Hospital have each sent two officers for training.

And one officer from Champion, Hartford, Kinsman, New Middletown Township in Mahoning County, Heartland Behavioral Healthcare, Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare, St. Joseph Warren Hospital and Trumbull Regional Medical Center have gone through the training.

“All of the big departments have been represented in the training, along with several small departments. Smaller departments with part-time police forces haven’t been able to attend because it is difficult for them to schedule five days of training,” Myers said.

The other departments that have sent officers for training are: the Trumbull Correctional Institution, Cortland, Girard, Bazetta, Lordstown, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Brookfield, Trumbull County Adult Probation, Warren Township, Weathersfield, Kent State University’s police academy and Newton Falls.

“All of the big departments have been represented in the training, along with several small departments. Smaller departments with part-time police forces haven’t been able to attend because it is difficult for them to schedule five days of training,” Myers said.

Scheduled to take part in the year’s second round of training from Wednesday through Friday and Dec. 13 and 14, are officers from Warren City, the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office, Howland, Cortland, Braceville, Bazetta and Akron Children’s Hospital, Myers said.

The featured speaker at the class’s commencement at Trumbull County’s Kent State University campus will be Christopher Bellas, a professor of criminal justice at Youngstown State University and a member of the county’s committee for the effort. The training uses role playing, specialized speakers and other tools to help officers as they interact with people going through a crisis or a mental health issue.

A training held in July saw the largest single class of officers trained with 24, after an 18-month pause to training caused by the pandemic. Ten people who signed up for that class were placed on a waiting list for the December session.

“Pent-up demand made July atypical,” Myers said.

Next year’s training hasn’t been scheduled yet, but the Crisis Intervention Training Steering Committee members indicated Wednesday it may hold one session in the fall of 2022.

Myers said it is easier to schedule speakers and have them spend their time on the training if it is held once a year, and typically the same amount of people can be trained in one session.

Some of the courses scheduled for the officers include education about mental illness, addiction and recovery, personality disorders, people most at risk for suicide, developmental disabilities and autism, “working with young African American men,” use of force, children and trauma and de-escalation tactics.

“During the five-day training, officers will learn about treatment and supportive services that are available locally for persons in crisis due to mental health or addiction issues,” Myers said. “They also learn skills to help de-escalate these crises which they are very likely to encounter in the course of their daily work.”

rfox@tribtoday.com