Situational awareness is critical for a police officer, and when it comes to confronting a subject suffering from a mental illness or other behavioral issues, knowledge of the subject’s state of mind could help the officer de-escalate a possibly explosive situation.

That’s what Kern County has provided for its law enforcement officers and first responders with the deployment of Smart911’s enhanced profiles that provide critical information on a subject’s mental health, addiction, and other issues that might aid the responder’s situational awareness.

The new Safety fields added to the Rave Mobile Smart911 technology help first responders and Kern Behavioral Health and Recovery Services respond to the homeless, transient and those with mental and cognitive issues or other problems that could complicate a response by law enforcement, fire or EMS.

Kern Behavior Health and Recovery Services has been working for nearly a decade with law enforcement on a program called Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) with the goal of trying to keep everyone safe during encounters between law enforcement and the public, especially vulnerable or troubled members of the public.

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