The Chandler Police Department’s Behavioral Health Unit was created in 2024 and has grown in number of officers and impact.
And its leader wants it to grow even more in the near future.
Sgt. Matt Cacciola explained to media gathered for an Aug. 7 scenario demonstration how the unit team handles a particular type of mental health situation.
After starting out with just a few officers in 2024, there are now five sworn officers and a public information officer for the unit, which handles many types of mental health emergencies.
Cacciola said with more officers, they can be at more locations for incidents occurring at the same time — especially during high-call-volume hours.
The unit goes through much initial and ongoing training, Cacciola said, including a 40-hour local training course aimed at specific types of mental health crises, along with 50 hours of FBI crisis negotiation training.
A publicity statement from Chandler Police states the six types of crises covered in the local training involve schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, military veterans, dementia, autism and suicidal ideation.
The training is arranged about four times per yer, Cacciola said.
“One thing we try to do, once we arrive to help someone, is to slow it down and get as many facts as we can,” Cacciola said. “Information from telecommunications staff (formerly known as dispatchers) is really helpful, and the more we learn about someone and their situation while we’re en route, the better. But every now and then, we see things on-site that might be triggers or aggravating circumstances, so getting there and assessing everything matters.”
The scenario acted out as part of the unit’s more common type of call is much different from, say, a vehicle accident or a crime scene. Officers Tyler Daugherty and Evan McWhorter played themselves, while one of their coaches, Rebecca White of Aspen Behavioral Consulting, played the role of an autistic person in mental health distress in a movie theater hallway or lobby.
Daugherty and McWhorter displayed their active listening and deescalation training as White, after showing initial frustration with a vending machine, was eventually persuaded to go with the officers.
“You’re not in any trouble,” McWhorter told White, with officers reiterating multiple times in the scenario that they’re there to help, after having identified themselves as being with the police department.
After the scenario was complete, White and the officers, along with Gilbert officer and training specialist Patrick Shipp, debriefed quietly about what went well or could’ve been done differently.
“When you’re talking with someone in crisis, you want to be able to connect with the individual,” Cacciola said. “Use your active listening, be patient a little bit, build rapport and go from there.”
He said the week of training involves presentations from members and advocates from the community, such as veterans or those who had police contact when in crises of their own.
“People with lived experience are giving us feedback on deescalation techniques,” Cacciola said. “And they can tell officers, directly, ‘Hey, I really connected with this’ or ‘This kind of triggered me a little.’”
Cacciola said the training isn’t just for officers who will serve within the Behavioral Health Unit. So far, 34 Chandler Police officers have started the weeklong training, with 32 completing it.
“Any officers from two to 30 years of experience will benefit from this training,” he said.
Officer Jessie Metzler, in a Chandler Police social media video about behavioral health training, said getting people off the street and out of the heat is often among an Arizona department’s priorities for people in crisis.
“We’ve got to quickly let them know, in those moments, that we’re there to help them get to a safe location,” Metzler said. “Our goal is to help them and not to hurt them. So one of the best tools we have in these crises is basic conversation.”
Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
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