Instructors’ challenges facilitating mental health first aid training with law enforcement

Following highly publicized incidents of police responses to individuals with a mental illness, policing executives attempt to placate public outcry by mandating mental health training. However, police training curriculums are not well-evaluated, especially pertaining to implementation challenges that may arise. Using interviews with certified Mental Health First Aid instructors (n = 18), this study explores challenges experienced when implementing and facilitating the training with law enforcement officers (LEOs). Thematic analysis identified four themes: 1) In general, LEOs are a difficult group to train; 2) LEOs and their agencies often have different expectations for training compared to other populations; 3) instructors must be knowledgeable surrounding LEO-specific state and local policies surrounding mental health responses; and 4) instructors lacking credibility with the LEO audience may find facilitating the training to be more challenging. Findings highlight the importance of carefully selecting both instructors and training participants when implementing mental health training.