Anchorage police to train 10 officers in mental-health crisis response

Anchorage Police Department will train up to ten officers and dispatchers and mental-health crisis response this fall using a $50,000 grant from the Alaska mental health trust authority.

The grant covers classroom materials and backfill overtime costs for attending the four-day Crisis Intervention Team training. The training aims to increase knowledge of mental health disorders and improve law enforcement interactions with people experiencing mental health crises.

The Municipality is providing $1,100 in matching funds to cover intragovernmental charges.

The Anchorage Police Department established its Crisis Intervention Team program following the Memphis, Tennessee CIT model that began in 1988 after Memphis police fatally shot a mentally ill man in 1987.

Police Chief Sean Case told the Assembly that APD administers the statewide task force grant, which has operated since 2007.