SWAT calls in Sioux Falls have dropped. Police say that's no accident.

As Sioux Falls' mayor pushes for more community resource officers with better mental health training, police say situations in which SWAT is called out have dropped dramatically over recent years.

Data from the Sioux Falls Police Department shows that calls involving what police term "barricaded subjects" that elicit a SWAT response have decreased overall, from as many as 12 in 2016 to three in 2018. And that decreasing trend is not entirely coincidental.

"It's been by design," Chief Matt Burns said. "We're just trying to handle (those situations) better, smarter."

When laying out his list of "Big Hairy Audacious Goals" for the city of Sioux Falls, Mayor Paul TenHaken discussed his desire to specially train officers in order to reduce SWAT call-outs for suicidal people and those with mental health difficulties. Part of that involves hiring two full-time community resource officers specifically for assisting in these types of calls.

"What a lot of officers don't have is specialized training on mental health and behavioral health challenges, and identifying those," TenHaken said. "Sometimes, the easy thing may be to simply arrest someone who is displaying odd behavior or is acting in a threatening manner, but really, are they a threat right now? Or are they experiencing a behavioral health issue?"

But police say how SWAT handles people with mental health issues has already begun to change. As Sioux Falls SWAT team members attend national training, they are learning new techniques to help them more effectively end a standoff peacefully.

"SWAT, nationally ... has seen that it is more effective to handle them in a little bit different way," Burns said. "If they are alone and they're not an exigent threat to themselves, sometimes the best practice is to just give them a little space."

Part of "giving space" involves trying to call the person over the phone and establish a dialogue with them before determining whether SWAT is needed. Burns cautioned that some situations still require SWAT, specifically if the barricaded person has a hostage or is actively trying to hurt themselves or others.

"You take each of these situations on their own merit," he said. "If a person has shot off rounds or something like that, well then, that's a different situation."

But if a person is barricaded and not a threat to others, "we're more apt to give them that space and to let them cool off," he said.

"That doesn't work every time ... but more often than not, we're seeing success," Burns said.