Albany County Collaborative Crisis Response and Intervention Training Program

The purpose of this project is to address three key gaps in providing law enforcement with Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) training in rural Albany County, Wyoming, the lead applicant requesting a first-time grant from Bureau of Justice Assistance. The county will partner with the Albany County Sheriff’s Office to plan, implement, and sustain a comprehensive CIT program. Albany County, the primary service area, has a population of 38,390 residing in a total area of 4,309 square miles, qualifying it as “rural.” Although people who identify as a race other than “white” only account for about 16% of the population, 64% of county residents are eligible for food assistance programs, and compared with state and national averages, all ethnicities average higher rates of poverty in Albany County than in the State or U.S. in total.

The first gap is a formalized plan to equip law enforcement officers with CIT training, resulting in a currently large percentage of untrained detention and patrol deputies in the county. Funding from this request will be rolled out systematically across the grant cycle to close this gap in training for local law enforcement agencies across three agencies. Secondly, Albany County has struggled to sustain ongoing CIT because of the high cost associated with bringing trainers to a rural area. To address this gap, funding will be used to implement a “train the trainer” model with succession planning to sustain a cost effective program. The final gap is the need for more collaborative communication between county law enforcement and existing community service providers/coalitions to support better outcomes for citizens. This project includes strategic planning to support a CIT-driven, multi-faceted approach to how officers respond to calls involving people experiencing crisis situations and connect them to supportive resources.

Direct beneficiaries of the training will include Albany County Sheriff’s Office, Laramie Police Department, and University of Wyoming Police Department personnel. Ultimately, the citizens of an economically at-risk community will be beneficiaries of improved law enforcement following CIT best practices. Outcomes of the proposed project include that every deputy and officer in Albany County is CIT-trained and certified by 2025, an increase in request for support from CIT-trained officers, an increase in referrals to agencies outside law enforcement (hospitals, clinics, mental health providers, etc.) when responding to calls involving mental health crisis, and a reduction in criminal arrests of individuals experiencing a mental health crisis.