Officers receive weeklong training to recognize mental health issues [KPLCTV.com]

It's a routine occurrence - law enforcement dealing with mental health issues.

The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office said on average, deputies respond to two-to-four calls every day.

On Monday, training to become Crisis Intervention Team - or CIT certified - began for 30 law enforcement officers from various agencies in Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron and Jeff Davis parishes.

"This is just a way for us to learn how to deal and interact with those cases," said Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff's deputy Mika Miguez

Since November 2006, officers from across the state and Texas and Mississippi have spent a week training at the Calcasieu Parish Regional Law Enforcement Academy in Lake Charles.

"This is a unique program," said Lt. Darek Ardoin, who is one of the two coordinators for the CIT program. "[It] is not a police training, police-type training; this training involves a collaboration within our community."

[For more of this story, written by Candy Rodriguez, go to http://www.kplctv.com/story/35...amp;utm_medium=email]