DAYTON — Dayton police sent the entire department to the police academy for “de-escalating crisis situation” training, one of the results of the police reform recommendation process.
Lt. Matt Dickey, Dayton Police Department, said Integrating Communication and Tactics (ICAT) training was a continuation of professional training for officers.
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The training, Dickey said, teaches de-escalation techniques to officers facing dangerous situations where someone might be armed with something other than a gun. Officers learn tools to accomplish peaceful outcomes.
“The goal is to make them think outside the box,” Officer Brandon Hardin, academy instructor, said. “This is a tool in our bat belt, so we can facilitate de-escalation at its best.”
Dickey said the training did not involved gun-based scenarios.
“When a firearm is involved, its already gone to a deadly force situation and other tactics must be used,” Dickey said.
Dayton police, like many police departments across the country, have been accused of using too much force with people that are armed, but not with firearms. And sometimes the situations that police are called to are things they can step back from.
News Center 7 spotted a recent mental health check in Downtown Dayton. Officers kept their distance while allowing fire department paramedics to try and convince an upset man to go to the hospital with them.
Every officer on the force has gone through this ICAT training. Police emphasize its good training for them and is also a completion of suggestions called for by police reform committees.