Sal Ventura
During a period in which five people were killed by law enforcement in Butte County, overall attendance at the county’s annual week-long training program in crisis intervention has been in steep decline.
However, the Chico Police Department – roundly criticized for past absences at crisis intervention trainings – has stepped up participation since the killing of Desmond Phillips, a young black man in mental crisis.
Chico PD sent six officers Oct. 8-12 to the ninth annual Butte County Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training, which was sponsored by Butte College and is patterned after the so-called Memphis Model approach to the treatment by police of individuals in mental crisis.
Making de-escalation normal police practice and improving training in crisis intervention top the agenda of a group calling itself Concerned Citizens for Justice (CC4J), which formed in the aftermath of the 2017 fatal Chico police shootings of Phillips and Tyler Rushing. CC4J has been researching ways of expanding citizen oversight of police. Chico City Council candidates attending a forum sponsored by CC4J agreed in their support for more CIT training.