BGPD Officer Dale Barbiea stands with his Crisis Intervention Team Officer of the Year award.

Bowling Green Police Department Officer Dale Barbiea has been named the state’s Crisis Intervention Team Officer of the Year, earning recognition for his work in responding to emergencies involving people with mental illness.

Barbiea was honored last month at the Kentucky CIT Conference in Elizabethtown for Crisis Intervention Team officers who work for various law enforcement agencies across the state.

A 15-year veteran of BGPD, Barbiea is the agency’s longest-serving crisis negotiator and has been a part of the BGPD’s Crisis Negotiations Team for 10 years.

He was nominated for the award by his peers in the department, who exalted his “exemplary de-escalation skills which he has been able to put to use during numerous negotiation incidents and regular calls for service.”

According to a nomination form submitted in February by BGPD, city police officers handled 1,005 incidents last year which resulted in the completion of a CIT report, and Barbiea was involved in 140 of those incidents and took part in ten incidents in which the agency’s Crisis Negotiation Team was activated.

“We just want to make sure every incident has a positive and peaceful outcome,” Barbiea said. “Our chief and administration do a lot to support us and get us the equipment we need.”

Crisis Intervention Team training is an annual in-service class taught to law enforcement officers across the state, modeled after a program devised by police in Memphis meant to help people in crisis dealing with mental illness, providing alternatives to jail.

“For many years, we have made it a point to have every officer CIT trained,” said BGPD Major Robert Hansen, a CIT instructor who trains officers from numerous local agencies.

Local police agencies work with mental health services providers like Lifeskills and Rivendell, along with advocacy groups to train officers on how to most effectively respond to calls involving people exhibiting symptoms of mental illness or behavioral disorders.

Hansen said officers are trained to recognize the signs and symptoms of major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression and are given strategies to help safely de-escalate scenarios involving people in crisis.

That training has helped reduce injuries and incidents with use of force while enabling people in need of mental health treatment to receive evaluations.

All BGPD officers participate in the annual CIT classes at some point in their career, and its often the first in-service training for younger officers, Hansen said.

“I think we’re much better equipped now to deal with and recognize people who are experiencing mental health crises, definitely,” Hansen said. “This training has been a huge eye-opener. I think most officers walk away (from training) with a newfound perspective and some better tools in terms of how to de-escalate and effectively communicate with people in crisis. These programs make a big difference in terms of the overall good outcomes on these calls.”

Barbiea patrols a district that includes The Medical Center and Rivendell Behavioral Health Hospital, so he receives most calls for service that result in mental health evaluations.

His nomination for CIT officer of the year cited his work during incidents last year that included his convincing a man threatening to cut his neck with a knife to drop the knife and peacefully go into custody.

In a separate incident, Barbiea took part in negotiations with a man who shot at his ex-girlfriend and barricaded himself in his residence, leading to him granting officers consent to search his home and be taken into custody without further incident.

Barbiea has also been recognized by the BGPD, earning a Life Saving Award in 2021 for successfully talking a woman out of jumping from a bridge.

“Barbiea has been a mentor for younger officers who are interest in becoming crisis negotiators,” said the CIT Officer of the Year nomination form submitted by Sgt. Donitka Boyett and Sgt. Jennie McShane.

While all BGPD officers undergo CIT training, Barbiea is part of the agency’s specialized Crisis Negotiation Team, having received additional training in communication skills geared toward talking people down from crisis scenarios.

Hansen said that officers in the unit are trained in active listening skills and recognizing signs of substance abuse, mental illness or behavioral disorders in order to better evaluate a given scenario in which a person is experiencing crisis.