Bill > S1244

This bill mandates that the municipal police training committee establish a mandatory course within the basic training curriculum for all law enforcement officers in the Commonwealth, starting by January 1, 2016, to train them on how to effectively handle situations involving individuals experiencing mental health emergencies or those who are victims, witnesses, or suspects with mental illness or developmental disability. The training will emphasize understanding criminal laws for the benefit of these individuals, available civil remedies and community resources, and how to protect them while also ensuring officer safety, including strategies for de-escalation and using the least intrusive means. The course will also cover legal aspects like defenses of responsibility and competency to stand trial, and the diversion of individuals for treatment instead of prosecution, and will be developed in consultation with mental health experts and consumer-survivors, who are defined as individuals suffering from mental health or developmental disabilities. Furthermore, this training will be periodically incorporated into ongoing in-service training for law enforcement officers.