Mashantucket — About 60 Connecticut law enforcement officers and judicial marshals descended upon the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Police Department headquarters last week for training that attendees routinely say is among the best they’ve ever taken.

The five-day crisis intervention training, or CIT, was organized by the Connecticut Alliance to Benefit Law Enforcement, or CABLE, and funded by the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Similar trainings are hosted seven times a year in different parts of Connecticut, CABLE Executive Director Louise Pyers said.

During the course, Pyers explained, officers hear from a variety of instructors, many of whom are health professionals, as well as people or the families of people who have a mental illness. Over the course of 40 hours they discuss everything from suicide-by-cop to the different ways various mental health conditions can present themselves.

The hope is that CIT-certified officers will be able to keep themselves and the people they serve safer.

Through rotating stations, attendees also learn how to recognize a person who may be having a crisis and what to say — or not to say — as they approach. The officers then get a chance to practice in mock situations. 

In one station, officers and marshals wear headphones that emanate the voices a person having a mental break may hear. As their heads are filled with noise, the attendees are asked to do simple tasks or respond to simple commands. Many find it harder than they would have imagined.

In the 15 years CABLE has been involved in the training, about 3,000 people have attended. Those people represent 102 agencies, including municipal departments, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Marshal Service and the state Department of Correction.

“Many of them say it’s the best training they have had in their careers,” Pyers said. “They feel it’s practical and useful information they wish they had earlier.”

Reached by phone Monday, Chief William Dittman and Capt. George Potts said they were thrilled to have hosted the training, which officers from New London, Norwich, Groton Town, Ledyard, state police Troop E and seven other agencies also attended.

With a headquarters that boasts a 120-seat classroom, the department has an ability to host such events that other area departments don’t. Last year’s CIT course, Pyers pointed out, was at Mitchell College.

Dittman and Potts said learning how to intervene in crises is important because policing has changed. Where officers used to arrest nearly everybody, they’re now expected to first determine whether there’s a better avenue for the person they’re interacting with.

Before last week, the Mashantucket tribal force had two officers on staff who had become CIT-certified while with other departments. With last week’s training, the department quadrupled that number to eight.

The goal, Potts said, is to get as many officers certified as possible. But in the short term the department is content with having one trained officer on each squad.

“This (training) is huge because there are people that just temporarily might be having some kind of crisis overload,” Potts began. “Throwing them in the criminal justice system and giving them a record ... is probably more detrimental to them than whatever the crisis was. It’s just going to compound the issue rather than getting them the help they deserve.”

Mashantucket tribal police Investigator Kristen DiMauro, who attended the weeklong training when her partner couldn’t, called it learning “a new way of thinking.”

DiMauro said she was happy to learn about new agencies to which she can refer people, whether they’re struggling with suicidal thoughts or a veteran with special needs.

“I’ve been an officer for about 19 years, now,” said DiMauro, who has been with her current department for a year and a half. “You’re always learning. You never, ever stop.”

DiMauro said her greatest takeaway from the training was that her approach matters. It’s not a concept she was unfamiliar with, she said, but hearing from people with mental illness about their less-than-positive run-ins with law enforcement drove the point home.

“I think this was one of the best training classes I’ve been to in a long time,” DiMauro said. “Every day I left the class, I went home afterwards and really thought about everything we had discussed.”

“Sometimes you don’t really realize the impact you can have on other people,” she continued. “This class was helpful in helping me recognize that.”

DiMauro said she expects to frequently employ the tactics she learned during her day shifts, many of which are spent responding to Foxwoods Resort Casino. The strategies, she said, will come in handy not only when dealing with those who have mental illnesses, but also with other agitated or disgruntled people.

“Safety is first and foremost,” DiMauro said. “But sometimes we have the time to step back and say, ‘Let’s slow down here. Let’s do some talking instead of shouting.’”

l.boyle@theday.com