Westchester is launching a series of first responder and law enforcement training to help deescalate situations involving people with behavioral health challenges.

Westchester County Executive George Latimer announced the five-step approach, Project Alliance, on Thursday.

The goal is to give additional resources to everyone involved in receiving and responding to 911 calls including dispatchers, EMTs and police.

Westchester County Executive George Latimer says, "Where there is a behavioral issue, a mental health issue on display, the nature of who responds and how they handle it, is what we're really trying to get at here."

The county is also launching eight mobile crisis response teams over the next several months to quickly arrive at 911 calls and support the police, by assessing the needs of people having a mental health crisis.

Latimer hopes the plan will help prevent future incidents between law enforcement and the community from becoming violent or deadly.