A growing number of Suffolk police officers have received specialized training to help people going through mental health crisis situations and their families, according to Suffolk Police Sgt. Cheryl Balzer.

Approximately 40 percent of the Suffolk Police Department’s 186 patrol officers, and all of its dispatchers, have passed a 40-hour crisis intervention training class offered by the Western Tidewater Community Services Board since 2012, Balzer said.

The two organizations designed the class with the goal of preventing crime by diverting the mentally ill away from the justice system and toward treatment programs, she said.

The 40-hour training includes classroom education on various forms of mental illness, medications and the committal process, as well as empathy-building skills, according to a press release. Officers participate in role-playing scenarios using the skills and tour local facilities that treat people with mental illnesses and other disabilities.

Suffolk was one of the first Hampton Roads police departments to provide officers with the crisis training, Balzer said.

“We are here to assist families who have loved ones with mental illnesses … and to make sure people are aware of all the community resources that are available,” she said during a May 17 presentation at the East Suffolk Recreation Center.

A handful of citizens attended the meeting sponsored by the police department and community services board. Other organizations on hand included Virginia Veterans and Families; the National Alliance on Mental Illness; Suffolk Project Life Saver; and Child Reach, a regional crisis response system for children with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

The crisis training gives officers skills to deal with myriad mental illnesses, including post-traumatic stress syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease and autism spectrum disorder, Balzer said.

Dispatchers play a crucial role in gathering information for officers responding to calls, according to Balzer.

Callers should expect dispatchers to seek as much information about offenders and situations as possible: names, addresses, offenders’ physical and mental limitations, their access to weapons, medications, and past histories of violence and interaction with the police.

Two dispatchers typically work crisis calls: one talks to the callers, while the other is passing information to responding officers by radio or phone, said Erin Hughes, a dispatch supervisor.

“Dispatchers learn the same techniques and have access to the same crisis intervention resources as officers,” Hughes said. Dispatchers are able to provide callers with information about community resources and occasionally help calm crisis situations by talking to offenders while officers are on the way, she said.

Western Tidewater has tried to make it easier for people to get assistance, said Western Tidewater Clinical Administrator Karen Nicely.

The agency has opened a mental health assessment center at 1000 Commercial Lane, which is staffed from 8 a.m. to midnight daily to speed up the processing and evaluations of people subject to emergency custody orders or temporary detention orders, she said.

Western Tidewater has two full-time counselors housed at Western Tidewater Regional Jail, and the community services board also has a psychiatrist working 16 hours per week, up from one day per month in recent years, she said.

Nicely wants people — including family members — to know the importance of reaching out for assistance when they first recognize help is needed.

“We recognize that mental illness is a chronic, recurring condition and that relapses are part of the process,” said Nicely. The goal is to get patients early intervention, so relapses don’t elevate to crisis situations.

Eventually, Balzer wants to make crisis training available to firefighters, paramedics and other first responders.