Sgt. Jason Winsky

Sgt. Jason Winsky is a 20-year veteran of the Tucson Police Department, where he has led the creation and growth of mental health programs that serve the community’s most vulnerable populations. He supervises TPD’s pioneering Mental Health Support Team, a squad of officers, detectives, and co-responders dedicated to positive, compassionate responses to persons experiencing a mental health crisis, and he assisted with the development of the Substance Use Resource and Homeless Outreach Teams. Each year these teams have thousands of interactions with individuals in crisis and are able to defuse the crisis, divert and deflect away from the jail, and transport individuals to treatment, without using force. A skilled educator, Sgt. Winsky trains police officers in communication and de-escalation techniques across southern Arizona. He is a Mental Health First Aid Instructor and has taught over 1,000 officers in Crisis Intervention Team Training. Under his leadership, TPD was designated a Police-Mental Health Collaboration Learning Site by the US Department of Justice and won the Mental Health First Aid Community Impact Award from the National Council for Behavioral Health. The Arizona Capitol Times named him the 2016 Healthcare Leader of the Year, and in 2021 he received the St. Thomas More Award for his lifelong dedication to community service and integrity in the field of law enforcement. Sgt. Winsky is a native of Tucson, where he graduated from the University of Arizona prior to joining the Tucson Police Department.