A specialized Albuquerque police unit trained to defuse dangerous encounters with suspects battling mental illness was not used in the March 16 police shooting of a homeless man.
The Albuquerque Journal reports (http://goo.gl/DXYiCQ) that Barri Roberts, executive director of the Bernalillo County Forensic Intervention Consortium, said the police's Crisis Intervention Team played no role during the long standoff with 38-year-old James Boyd.
Police shot and killed Boyd in the Sandia foothills after authorities said he threatened officers and claimed he was a federal agent.
Chief Gorden Eden told reporters after the shooting that a CIT officer had tried unsuccessfully to negotiate with Boyd before the shooting.
But Roberts says police did not make a distinction between full-time CIT detectives and field officers who have completed 40 hours of CIT training.
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