(Pictured-left to right-back row-Deputy Robert Henning/Genesee County Sheriff’s Department, Officer Wesley Rissinger/Batavia Police Department, Deputy Jenna Ferrando/Genesee County Sheriff’s Department, Dan Wendling/Assistant Director of Campus Safety/GCC, Deputy Chad Cummings/Genesee County Sheriff’s Department, Officer Kevin Defelice/Batavia Police Department.
Front-Lynda Battaglia/Director of Mental Health & Community Services/Genesee County, Officer Joshua Girvin/Batavia Police Department, Sgt. Kyle Krzemien/Genesee County Sheriff’s Department, David Moore/Investigator/Genesee County Sheriff’s Office.)
Genesee County has officially graduated the first group of law enforcement officers from the Crisis Intervention weeklong training class held at Genesee Community College last week.
Investigator David Moore with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, and Lynda Battaglia, Director of Mental Health and Community Services for Genesee County, attended a Train the Trainer for Crisis Intervention training in early spring.
“This is a huge benefit to be able to host this training here in Genesee County,” says Investigator Moore.
“It allows our officers and deputies to really build that relationship with our mental health professionals in the area. Ultimately by doing this, law enforcement, mental health, our family consumers and our community service representatives can all come together and be able to respond appropriately to individuals suffering from whatever the crisis is, extreme emotional distress, mental health, but being able to all work together as one unit instead of an in an individual unit to provide the most appropriate resources for that person.”
Mental health has been in the forefront of as of late, especially as we come out of the pandemic. Mental health officials have taken this opportunity to decrease the stigma of mental health at a time when people are in crisis and struggling with how to manage their lives in the current social climate.
“People are in crisis, people are struggling with how to manage their feelings, emotions and thoughts,” says Battaglia.
Many times, law enforcement is called to an individual in crisis. The officers and deputies first contact when on scene is crucial to deescalate the situation and get the person help before the situation can possibly spin out of control.
According to Battaglia, a lot of law enforcement already have the skills needed during a crisis response, it’s just putting the situation into context.
“You could work with someone who has a mental illness, an addiction and significant medical issues, what you do with that and how do you approach that person. I think this training gives them the opportunity to explore how to talk to somebody who might be having suicidal ideations, how to talk to someone who might have a cognitive disability. Its better equipping our officers for responding in the community and individuals who are in crisis.”