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Lake County sheriff's team help man in mental health crisis

Lake County Sheriff's officers who have received mental health training helped a man in mental crisis Saturday morning in Lake Villa, authorities said.

Sheriff's deputies were called about the man at 9:15 a.m. near the 36800 block of north Deerview Drive. Members of the sheriff's Crisis Intervention Team then were dispatched to respond to the scene, Sgt. Christopher Covelli said in a news release.

The man had left his home on foot in the frigid cold. The Crisis Intervention Team found the man and began communicating with him, Covelli said.

"Through their advanced communication skills, CIT trained deputies are able to use words and calming body language to defuse a tense, unstable situation, which is exactly what happened in this case," Covelli wrote in an email.

After the team spent more than 45 minutes talking with the man, he was escorted to a nearby ambulance and taken to an area hospital for a mental health evaluation.

"Crisis Intervention Team training is crucial for all police officers," Sheriff Mark Curran said in the news release. "Being able to recognize someone in mental crisis, as our deputies did today, and respond appropriately is essential to bringing help to a person in crisis."

The sheriff's office recently received a $250,000 federal Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program grant. The funding will be used to expand training for mental health emergencies.

Deputies who undergo a 40-hour Crisis Intervention Team certification learn to identify people in mental crisis and how to de-escalate the situation.

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