TROY, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) -The Emotionally Distressed Persons Response Team (EDPRT) was created by Troy Police in 2006. It’s the second of its kind in New York following Rochester; helping officers better understand mental health crises while responding to calls.
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“It wasn’t a big influx. It was mainly about situations that were starting to arise in how officers were trained to deal with people,” said Captain Matthew Montanino.
Captain Montanino has trained more than 400 officers from across the Capital Region at Hudson Valley Community College. He says the biggest lesson is in de-escalation. “The key factors are listening, slowing the conversation down, trying to slow the situation down at hand, and showing some empathy to people.”
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“Every call we go to has some sort or some level of trauma. Someone’s been victimized by something. Whether it’s violent crime or potentially something that is minor to the system but is major to the person in that life,” added Assistant Chief Steven Barker.