EL CAJON
The El Cajon City Council last week directed staff to take $100,000 from General Fund reserves to use for continued de-escalation training for the Police Department.
The council also approved a suggestion by City Manager Graham Mitchell to earmark $500,000 of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for a pilot program where social workers would respond to calls involving people in crisis, freeing up police to respond to other calls.
The city expects to receive $30.5 million in federal aid, including about $21 million for assistance to households and businesses.
Mitchell said the city’s police department has been training in de-escalation tactics for some time, and in fact had been training the last few weeks in the department’s parking structure, and even invited the City Council members to watch the training if they were interested.