Introduction to

Crisis Intervention Team

(CIT)
Training
 Introductions of instructors/guests
 Time
 Breaks/Meals
 Confidentiality – sign the form
 Language and political correctness
 Family, friends and neighbors
 Psychobabble
 Lawyer stuff
 Officer safety
 Housekeeping
 MP3 Players
 Food
 Cell Phones
 Triggers
 Evaluation Forms and interview
 In the police departments of U.S. cities with a
population greater than 100,000,
approximately 7 percent of all police contacts,
both investigations and complaints, involve a
person believed to have a mental illness.
 Deane, Martha, Steadman, Henry J., Borum, Randy, Veysey, Bonita, Morrisssey, Joseph P. "Emerging
Partnerships Between Mental Health and Law Enforcement." Psychiatric Services Vol.50, No. 1. January

1999: pp. 99-101 .

 In Richmond 2016
 3,956 citizens of Richmond received face-to-
face crisis interventions
 56,947 crisis telephone calls logged
 1,897 Temporary Detention Orders petitioned
 3,012 adult civil commitment hearings attended
for Richmond Circuit Courts
 CIT stands for Crisis Intervention Team and
was developed by the Memphis Police in
1988.
 Prompted by the shooting death of an
individual suffering with mental illness.
 CIT offers a pre-booking alternative to law
enforcement.
 Initiates a change in the “System” to break the
revolving door cycle many are faced with.
 When we say ‘revolving door’ we
are saying individuals suffering
with mental illness don’t get better
by being jailed.

 Treat symptoms and not causes.

What do you think the prevailing
attitude among law enforcement
officers regarding calls for service
that involve subjects with mental
health disorders?
Why does law enforcement dislike
dealing with psychiatric
emergencies?
Time consuming
The unknown
Perceptions and Stigma
Are people with mental illness more violent?
What words come to mind
when I say “mental illness”?
 Disturbed  Freak  Batshit crazy
 Nuts  Odd  Window licker
 Confused  Strait Jacket  Short bus
 Spastic  Loony bin  Sicko
 Crazy  Screw loose
 Dumb  Brain dead
 Mad  Retarded
 Insane  Violent
 Loony  Scary
 Mental  Demented
 Thicko  Cuckoo for
 Weird Cocoa Puffs
What words come to mind when
I say the word “cancer”?
How are we supposed to break this
cycle?
Reduce stigma through experience.
Increase effectiveness though training.
Reduce delays with access.
 Hospitals that have closed or downsized in
the past decade.
 Charter Westbrook - 198
 Capital Medical Center -53
 Richmond Memorial - 40
 Central State Hospital 125
 Total Regional Beds Lost 416 = 24,960 treatment
“opportunities”
 State Hospital pop. 1976 6,000
2009 1,300
 Populations grow, needs increase but “the
system” has shrunk.
 Thinking about that graph again, is it any wonder
jail populations have risen?

 The three largest psychiatric providers in the

United States are…
 Los Angeles County Jail
 Cook County Jail (Chicago)
 Riker’s Island (New York)

 Hampton Roads Regional Jail: By default,

Virginia's largest mental hospital
Daily Press July 9, 2016
The jail where Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Portsmouth
and Chesapeake send their most difficult inmates. It also houses
those with severe mental illness, and is therefore - in effect - the
state's largest mental hospital.
 It is not an issue with someone
not doing their job. It is an issue
of the system not evolving with
the changes to our resources.
Part of the overdue evolution
the system has been
waiting for, is you.
 CIT allows for more timely and
effective field interventions.
 CIT is proactive.
 CIT changes the nature and
perception of the intervention.
.
 Officer and Citizen injuries decreased
 Diminished litigation against law
enforcement
 Fewer tactical team call outs
 Arrest rates down impacting jail census and
overcrowded dockets
 Decreased recidivism
 Stronger and wider reaching community
support for law enforcement
 John Oliver

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/1
0/05/john_oliver_on_mental_healthcare_last_
week_tonight_host_breaks_down_our.html
CIT is not a panacea.

CIT is not magic

Would you say this training provided
you helpful information on mental
illness and community resources
overall?
96%
Would you say this training provided
you additional skills to use in de-
escalation overall?
96%
 For more information visit
the Virginia CIT Coalition website at…

www.vacitcoalition.org
 Questions?