Cape Coral Police Dept. emphasizing de-escalation training

The Cape Coral Police Department is bringing more awareness to the de-stigmatization of mental health in the community and emphasizing proper training of officers to react correctly in high-stress situations.

During a press conference Monday afternoon, the department presented a video where a 35-year-old man was having mental issues at his home.

Officers saw that the subject was aggressive and holding a hatchet. They asked him to drop it and threatened to use a Taser on him.

When they saw the subject raise the hatchet, they shocked him with the Taser.

Watch the video below.

Police Chief Anthony Sizemore said that de-escalating training is important.

“Almost four years of leading this agency, one of the first acts I undertook was to lean in on de-escalation training and actually provide those tools in the training so that successful outcomes like this are achieved,” he said. “I believe that’s what contemporary forward-leaning law enforcement agencies do, which is what the American public expects.”

Sizemore said that these situations are inevitable and that officers must be ready to react.

Families are very reliant on officers in these situations, and Sizemore said that when officers are faced with this, they are trained to rise to the occasion.

CCPD created the Tactical De-escalation Award after this situation.

“No longer are we just awarding what would have happened had we been confronted with gunfire or deadly force. That’s still in law enforcement; there’s still a place for that, but I think it’s equally as important that we celebrate and highlight the actions that our officers highlighted in this video,” he said.

The officers involved in the situation are the first in the department to receive this award.

Watch the full press conference below.