Mahoning County reaches goal of mental health training for cops

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County started Crisis Intervention Team training classes in 2006 with the goal to have at least one officer from every law-enforcement outfit in the county trained to interact with those having a mental health crisis.

Officials reached that goal this week and celebrated during a Friday luncheon at the Youngstown YMCA.

“We approach mental illness as an illness, not a crime, which is a shift from the ’90s and early 2000s,” said Sgt. Jerry Fulmer, the Youngstown Police Department detective who coordinates and teaches the county’s training classes. “The goal of this is to get people who need help into programs, into facilities or services that are better suited for their care as opposed to just locking them up.

“We maintain that we’re still the police. ... Most of us got into this field to help people, and now we’re armed with the tools to get them the help they need when they’re in a mental health crisis.”

Read more about the program in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.