By admin 
CHANDLER, AZ (AZFamily) — Officers with the Chandler Police Department’s Behavioral Health Unit are undergoing crisis intervention training at the Public Safety Training Center, working through immersive scenarios designed to prepare them for real-world calls.
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In one training exercise, officers responded to a simulated movie theater call involving a person with autism in crisis. Officers McWhorter and Daughtery worked to build trust with the person rather than control the situation, using communication and de-escalation techniques.
‘Connect with the individual’
Rebecca White with Aspen Behavioral Consulting coached officers during the exercise while portraying the person in crisis, providing immediate feedback on what helped and what did not.
Sgt. Matt Cacciola of the Chandler Police Department’s Behavioral Health Unit said the approach centers on connection and patience.
“When we’re talking with someone in crisis, we want to be able to try to connect with the individual,” Cacciola said. “Use our active listening, be patient a little bit, and kind of go from there.”
More than 1,300 calls for service
The unit has responded to a wide range of behavioral health calls, including people experiencing mental health crises and people with developmental disabilities and cognitive conditions.
“We’ve probably responded to a little over 1,300 crisis-related calls for service,” Cacciola said.
Cacciola said crisis calls vary widely depending on who is calling for help.
“Crisis looks different to anyone that’s picking up the phone and looking for police resources,” he said.
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The same communication and de-escalation techniques practiced in training are applied by officers in the field. Cacciola said keeping people out of the criminal justice system is a priority.
“We never want to hurt someone to get help. And if we get them to help, and keep them out of the criminal justice system, that is a huge win,” Cacciola said.
Chandler PD has had this unit since 2024 and now has five sworn officers and one professional staff member. The training takes place four times a year.
“I can say honestly, we’ve had one reported use of force and we are dealing with all crisis-related calls, suicidal subjects with a firearm, knives, barricaded subjects, suicidal subjects,” Cacciola said. “I take it with pride that this training is working.”
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