Douglas County deputies highlight mental health training, crisis response efforts

Douglas County deputies are being trained to do more than secure a scene when a mental health crisis turns into a 911 call. Through Crisis Intervention Training and the county’s Community Response Teams, the Sheriff’s Office says specially trained deputies now work with mental health professionals to calm the encounter, assess danger and connect people to services instead of pushing every case into the justice system.

Those Community Response Teams, run with the Douglas County Mental Health Initiative and the Castle Rock Police Department, respond to active suicidal subjects, welfare checks, mental health calls and non-criminal substance abuse calls. In practice, that means a family in Castle Rock, Parker or elsewhere in Douglas County may see a deputy arrive with a clinician already in the car, not after the fact, when someone is in immediate distress.

The push comes as county leaders have pointed to a substantial local need. Douglas County commissioners recognized May 2024 as Mental Health Awareness Month, saying about 18% of residents, roughly 70,000 people, reported poor mental health in 2023. County officials also said more than $6 million in American Rescue Plan Act money has gone to mental and behavioral health programming, including veterans’ mental health services, youth and family crisis strategies, and suicide-prevention efforts.

The Sheriff’s Office says its deputies receive an average of 77 hours of in-service training each year, covering firearms, arrest control, driving, emergency medical treatment and hazardous materials. That training sits alongside a broader wellness program for employees and their families that includes peer support, psychological resources, neurofeedback, massage therapy, acupuncture, weekend marriage retreats and personal finance classes.

For residents in crisis, the county points people to Colorado Crisis Services at 844-493-TALK (8255) or text TALK to 38255. The county also promotes 988 and ImatterColorado.org as entry points for help. Inside the detention center, the Sheriff’s Office says its reintegration work includes Jail Based Behavioral Services focused on mental health treatment and substance use disorder treatment, with help from local mental health resources and Douglas County Human Services when people are released.

Douglas County has been building toward this approach for years. After the May 7, 2019 STEM School shooting, commissioners unanimously approved a $13.3 million resolution for school security and mental health services, a reminder that crisis response in the county now extends from patrol cars to classrooms, jails and community clinics.