The aventura police department (APD) will use FY24 safer outcomes funding to fund the delivery of the crest program, which is an 80-hour training intentionally designed to improve safety and…

The Aventura Police Department (APD) was awarded a $350,000 Project Grant under the Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Grants (CFDA 16.710) program by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). The funding will be used to deliver the 80-hour CREST program, which provides specialized crisis intervention training for law enforcement personnel across 10 participating agencies in the coastal region of Florida. The training aims to improve safety and outcomes of police encounters with individuals suffering from mental health disorders, substance misuse issues, and intellectual/developmental disabilities. The CREST program focuses on enhancing community-police collaboration, promoting sustainable change, and continuous improvement through a combination of classroom instruction, scenario-based training, and high-fidelity simulations. Without this federal assistance, the participating agencies would be unable to access this vital training.

The aventura police department (APD) will use FY24 safer outcomes funding to fund the delivery of the crest program, which is an 80-hour training intentionally designed to improve safety and outcomes of police encounters with those suffering from MHD, smis, and IDS. The specialized training facilitates enhancement of community-police collaboration and supports sustainable change and continuous improvement. The crest program provides integrated crisis training for key law enforcement personnel within the coastal region. The training consists of classroom lecture, extensive scenario-based and realistic high-fidelity simulation training. The program will include a collaborative of agencies: aventura police department; surfside PD; sunny isles beach PD; golden beach PD; miami beach PD; north miami PD; village of key biscayne PD; BAL harbor PD; north miami beach PD; eleventh judicial circuit of florida; nami; and the thriving mind south florida (contracting as south florida behavioral health network, INC). The crest program provides a structured approach addressing the complex issues surrounding law enforcement interactions with vulnerable populations, focusing on training, collaboration, and community engagement to achieve safer outcomes and enhanced mutual trust. Without federal assistance, IT is unfeasible for the coastal region agencies to receive this vital training.