My impression of this initiative as described is that it is intended to prevent unnecessary use of force--guns/shooting/etc--by police officers, as well as civilians.   The words "de-escalation" and "anti-bias" were used, and  the article said "This training is intended to provide deputies with information and tools to respond to people in behavioral crisis."  Some of the officer-involved shootings have involved people with mental health problems, or drug problems, for example.  I had to reread parts of this article to understand; I think there should have been a better explanation of what prompted this initiative, and what situations will be addressed with the proposed training.  I was glad to read and hear about the recent incident in which police officers talked down a man who threatened them with knives in his attempt to commit "suicide by cop".  They must have had training--that's the way to go!