Kendall Sheriff’s deputies use de-escalation techniques to diffuse incident involving man with a knife

Kendall County sheriff’s deputies utilized de-escalation techniques to safely resolve a situation involving an armed individual experiencing a mental health crisis Thursday afternoon, Nov. 5.

In a statement, the sheriff’s office said deputies responded to 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 that 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, deputies in July 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 that provide deputies the opportunity to further develop their communication skills and successfully deploy de-escalation techniques. The primary responding deputy in this situation also had previously received Crisis Intervention Team training.

According to the statement, the sheriff’s office has worked to provide deputies with Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training over the past several years 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.

“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,” said Sheriff Dwight Baird.

“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,” Baird said.

“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.”