Oswego police tout collaboration with Kendall Health Department [ChicagoTribune.com]

From the full article: “As we became an accredited agency it required our police officers to work on best practices,” Burgner said. “We relied heavily on the health department to initially give us training on how to identify and react in the field and help people get the treatment and services they need.”

The partnership has grown over the years to include training on behavioral health such as developmental disabilities, substance addiction and adverse childhood experiences as well as post-traumatic stress.

While there are resources to provide information on national public health trends, the county health department is a resource of information for the area, Burgner told trustees.

“We rely on (the department) to tell us what they are seeing locally and that is what I see as even more important,” Burgner said.