Minnesota could mandate officer training for mental-illness calls

Star Tribune: All Minnesota law enforcement officers soon could be required to learn how to deal with people with mental illness and safely de-escalate crises, marking a shift in policing away from using force and toward less lethal ways to intervene.

A bill before the Legislature to boost police training by $7 million, which has bipartisan support, includes mandatory training in crisis intervention, conflict management and cultural issues for the state’s 10,500 officers.

Officers “need a better understanding of how to diffuse what are often tense situations,” said Andy Skoogman of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, which supports the bill.

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