The Variability in Law Enforcement State Standards: A 42-State Survey on Mental Health and De-escalation Training

New Report Reveals Differences among State Law Enforcement Training Standards for Responding to People with Mental Illnesses

The CSG Justice Center, in partnership with the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST), today released the results of a national survey on state law enforcement training standards for responding to people with mental illnesses. Developed with funding support from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the report details results from 42 state training authorities and reveals that, while nearly all states have law enforcement training standards on mental health and crisis de-escalation, the required training hours, topics, and teaching methods differ widely. Survey respondents reported, for example, that training on mental health and de-escalation topics ranged from 2–40 hours for recruits or new officers.