Kendall County Sheriff's Office: Kendall County Sheriff's Office Utilizes De-Escalation Techniques To Diffuse Situation

Press release from Kendall County Sheriff's Office:

11/06/2021 11:00 AM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Kendall County Sheriff’s Office Utilizes De-escalation Techniques to Diffuse Situation

Kendall County Sheriff’s Office Utilizes De-escalation Techniques to Diffuse Situation

Kendall County, IL (November 6, 2021, 12:00 PM)

Kendall County Sheriff’s Office deputies utilize de-escalation techniques to safely resolve situation involving an armed individual experiencing a mental health crisis Thursday afternoon.

Deputies received a call from the family of an individual experiencing a mental health crisis and having thoughts of suicide.  When deputies arrived at the residence they encountered the individual who was holding a knife.  After ensuring everyone else in the residence was safe, deputies began to interact with the individual using techniques designed to de-escalate the situation and minimize the risk of injury to the individual as well as responding deputies.  Deputies then requested the assistance of a crisis negotiator from the Oswego Police Department who responded to the scene.  After several hours of talking with the individual, the situation was resolved safely after the individual put the knife down and was transported to an area hospital for treatment. 

As part of the Sheriff’s Office commitment to training, in July of this year, deputies participated in eight hours of mandatory scenario-based department training focused on de-escalation techniques.  The training scenarios are carefully constructed to challenge deputies with reality-based situations which provide deputies the opportunity to further develop their communication skills and successfully deploy de-escalation techniques. The primary responding deputy in this situation had also previously received Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training.  Over the past several years, the Sheriff’s Office has worked to provide deputies with Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training which focuses on responding to calls for service involving individuals experiencing a mental health crisis and/or those who suffer from a mental health disorder. 

Sheriff Dwight Baird said, “This situation highlights the necessity of the recent de-escalation training undertaken by the Sheriff’s Office and demonstrates our commitment to providing our citizens with the highest level of service possible.  Unfortunately, we have seen these kinds of situations result in tragedy too often and as a result, we have taken steps to provide additional training and resources to responding deputies to help them better manage these calls for service and mitigate the risks to everyone involved.  While it is important to note, the risks associated with these types of calls can’t be completely eliminated, we feel the steps we have taken will help to significantly reduce these risks.  I would like to commend the deputies who responded to this situation as well as the officers from the Oswego Police Department, who worked together to bring this situation to a peaceful resolution, and helped this individual receive the support and help they need.”

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Phone:             (630) 465-2067

Email:             dbriars@co.kendall.il.us

This press release was produced by Kendall County Sheriff's Office. The views expressed here are the author’s own.