PENDER COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) – A Pender County father demands change after discovering 75% of the deputies in the sheriff’s office lack training to handle situations involving people with mental illness or developmental disabilities.
Edward Bamberger started calling law enforcement agencies a couple of weeks ago, asking if officers had specialized Crisis Intervention Team training. It’s considered best practice for officers to learn how to de-escalate situations with people who might not be of sound mind.
When he started calling, he learned only about 30 out of 120 sheriff’s deputies in Pender County had completed it. For him it’s not just a statistic but represents a risk to families like his own…