SANFORD — The young man, in his 20s, was showing classic signs of schizophrenia. He wasn’t eating, and his family was worried.

He hadn’t always had mental health issues ”“ he’d been a scholar and an athlete, but after high school, he began to exhibit symptoms, said Police Chief Thomas Connolly.

The young man’s family wanted Sanford Police to place him in protective custody, but his symptoms didn’t meet the threshold. They met with the family, who said their son might say “yes,” voluntarily if police told him they thought he ought to go to a hospital. They tried it, the man agreed, and he got help.

In another case, an adult man, also with schizophrenia, decided to walk 15 miles on a cold night to visit a family member in his bare feet. Initially, he didn’t meet the protective custody threshold, but after meeting with family members and counselors, enough evidence was compiled, and he was admitted to hospital and into a treatment program.

“Ten years ago, we would have said ”˜no,’” to taking that extra step if someone didn’t meet the required threshold for protective custody, the police chief said.

But that has changed ”“ for the better, Connolly said.

And as of the end of last week, all 39 officers with Sanford Police Department have completed training in crisis intervention.

“I believe these officers have a better understanding of the issues,” he said. “It’s no longer ”˜not our problem.’”

Connolly said nationally, a large percentage of people with whom police interact, perhaps as many as 30 percent, are suffering from some psychiatric disorder.

National Alliance on Mental Illness criminal justice coordinator Gilles Soucy, who conducted the 40-hour training program, said Sanford joins Portland and South Portland in having all officers trained. In all, some officers at 200 police departments in Maine have had training.

Taking training along with Sanford last week were officers from York County Sheriff’s Office, and the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Saco, South Berwick and Wells police departments.

“They realize the benefits,” said Soucy of the participants.

A longtime advocate of the program, Connolly said CIT teaches skills in crisis de-escalation, recognizing mental illness, suicide prevention, and how to achieve positive interaction between police and people suffering from mental illness and crisis.

“CIT improves officer safety, improves officer attitudes toward people with serious mental illness, and increases referrals to mental health services,” he said.

The police chief said he’s been working on having all the department’s officers trained since 2009.

“It has been a long, five-year task and very expensive, since most of the training required the expenditure of overtime funds, but it has been worth every penny spent,” he said. “I can see the difference in the attitudes of my officers, and I truly believe that they interact with people suffering from mental illness and crisis differently than they did five years ago.”

Connolly said CIT stresses partnerships between the police and those in the community who provide mental health services.

And he believes the training should be mandatory.

In some states, it is, and in Connecticut, it’s about to be. According to May 18 Associated Press story, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is poised to sign a bill requiring police officers to take training courses on how to handle situations involving the mentally ill, part of several health reforms proposed after the Newtown school shooting.

Details will have to be worked out, but Malloy said the training will include the use of crisis intervention teams that are employed by nearly 2,700 police departments across the country.

Police in Hartford, Conn. have been using crisis intervention teams for eight or nine years, Sgt. Edward Yergeau told the AP.

“Most mentally ill people are not dangerous, but you don’t know that until you interact with them,” Yergeau said. “That’s why crisis intervention programs are important. Most mentally ill people are not criminals. The whole point of our … training is to decriminalize their actions. We try to not put mentally ill people in jail.”

“It’s all about accepting people who are different from you and treating them like human beings,” said Connolly.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report. Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.