Crisis Intervention Training is gaining momentum across the country, with cities like Kirksville and El Paso showing what's possible when first responders are equipped with the right tools, El Paso's CIT program is diverting a remarkable 98% of mental health calls away from jails and ERs.

But the picture isn't all rosy: Laredo's police are sounding the alarm over a psychiatric resource gap that's pushing officers well beyond their lane. We also look at a promising statewide campaign in Washington making the case for co-response teams and warning of what's at stake if federal Medicaid cuts erode the behavioral health system underneath them.

Kirksville first responders are completing a 40-hour Crisis Intervention Team training program focused on de-escalation and communication to reduce aggressive incidents when responding to mental health and substance use situations.

El Paso's volunteer police Crisis Intervention Team, which handles calls involving emotional distress, substance abuse, and suicidal thoughts, has successfully diverted 98% of its nearly 3,800 interventions away from jails and emergency rooms, though the program continues to face staffing and resource challenges as demand grows.

Laredo police are increasingly being forced to handle mental health crises that fall well outside traditional law enforcement duties, due to a lack of local psychiatric infrastructure. Because the city has no dedicated mental health hospital, officers must transport patients up to 350 miles away to facilities in San Antonio or the Rio Grande Valley, sometimes handling five such trips in a single day, pulling them off regular patrol duties for hours.

Recent changes in state law have shifted the responsibility for these transports directly to the agency initiating the emergency detention, further straining LPD as funding cuts add to the pressure. The situation has grown so dire that officers have personally paid out of pocket for patients' meals during long transport delays. Assistant Chief Ricardo Gonzalez is calling for a co-response model that pairs officers with clinicians and social workers, arguing that treating mental health emergencies primarily as a law enforcement matter is a disservice to patients and the broader community.

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Crisis Intervention Spotlight

A Washington state coalition of behavioral health agencies called Fourfront Contributor has launched "Return on Response," a statewide awareness campaign promoting co-response teams, which pair licensed mental health professionals with law enforcement, fire, or EMS personnel to handle behavioral health crises in real time, as a more effective alternative to routing people through emergency departments or the justice system.

The campaign highlights how co-response programs reduce unnecessary arrests and ER visits, allow first responders to return to service faster, and deliver broader system-wide cost savings compared to incarceration and repeated crisis calls. The coalition also warned that proposed federal cuts to Medicaid funding could undermine the very behavioral health infrastructure these partnerships depend on, potentially overwhelming crisis response systems that communities, schools, and law enforcement agencies have come to rely on.