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Area officers
complete 2015 Crisis Intervention Team Academy
Twenty five law enforcement officers from Darke, Miami and Shelby
Counties attended the Crisis Intervention Team Academy April 27-30,
presented by the Tri-County Board of Recovery and Mental Health
Services.
Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Training is a nationally recognized
program that teaches law enforcement safe and effective approaches to
handling crisis incidents involving a mentally ill individual. The
intensive 4-day training is conducted under the instructional
supervision of local CIT-trained police officers, mental health
professionals, consumers, and family advocates and offers practical
techniques for de-escalating crisis situations.
CIT Coordinator Jodi Long, Director of Clinical Services and Planning
for the Tri-County Board, said, "The CIT Academy and the companion
courses have been extremely successful. Officers tell us they now feel
better equipped to handle calls involving mental health crises, and
those of us involved with mental health services have a better
understanding of what the law enforcement officers deal with in the
field."
The class of 2015 is the 10th law enforcement group to complete the
program in the Tri-County Board's service area, bringing the total
number of trained officers to 198. The training is underwritten by the
Tri-County Board's mental health levy, by grants from the Ohio chapter
of the National Alliance for Mental Illness, and by in-kind donations
of food by local vendors.
"We are especially excited this year," Long said, "because not only is
it our 10th academy, but with the assistance of the NAMI stipends, we
were able to train officers from three communities who had not yet had
any officers trained. We now have CIT-trained officers in every corner
of each of our counties."
The Tri-County Board also presents CIT companion courses for mental
health professionals, dispatchers, court personnel and other groups.
For more information about the CIT Academy or companion courses, see
the Tri-County Board's website at www.tcbmds.org/community.
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