Mental-illness training helped officers in yesterday's standoff

Aug. 04--Hutchinson Police Department Chief Dick Heitschmidt says crisis intervention team training, or CIT, helped a situation involving a man with a handgun threatening suicide to conclude peacefully and without harm Sunday.

"I think it did (help). That training is good training," Heitschmidt said.

CIT training helps officers become familiar with what someone with mental illness is going through, he said.

Nearly all HPD officers have this training which aims to improve police interactions with people living with mental illnesses.

"Our people did everything that they were trained to do and it worked out fine and nobody got hurt," Heitschmidt said.

It was reported in March that about 14 percent of Wichita police officers have this kind of training, according to The Wichita Eagle.

"We just don't get into a hurry with trying to do anything. We just try to keep them talking to us and keep it moving forward," Heitschmidt said, about how the training works in the field.

As of 5 p.m. Monday the man involved was still in the hospital after being transported there Sunday afternoon after he was apprehended by officers.

Heitschmidt wasn't able to confirm his condition.

The man's name isn't being released at this time due to it being a suicidal situation, but it will be if the man is charged with a crime.

At 9:30 a.m. Sunday, HPD was called to the 2800 block of Derenda Drive where the man fired a handgun into the air after a domestic situation involving "some conflict" with his spouse. He then got into his car and was pulled over near The Rusty Needle, 1808 N. Plum St., where the standoff lasted roughly five hours, according to HPD Capt. Troy Hoover.

According to a mental health needs assessment conducted in 2013, Reno County residents are among the highest at risk in the state for experiencing mental health problems.

Reno County numbers showed 24 out of every 1,000 people over 10-years-old accessed outpatient care in 2013. This nearly doubled the state average of 13 people per 1,000 and ranked the county 94th out of 105 counties.

An average 6.87 people per 1,000 in the county had drug treatment admissions, compared to a 4.89 state average.

When it comes to mental health providers, there are just under 39 providers per 1,000 population, which was among the lowest 30 percent in the state compared to a state average of nearly 56.

Many emergency responders were on scene Sunday in temperatures that reached nearly 91 degrees.

EMS was called to evaluate officers for heat exposure. There were around seven to eight police officers, Kansas Highway Patrol deputies and a couple Reno County Sheriff's Office deputies on scene.

The owner of the Rusty Needle "very graciously" opened his business for officers to get out of the heat during the standoff, Heitschmidt said.

A couple officers were treated for symptoms of heat exhaustion. The officers are now doing fine.

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