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Law enforcement officers trained to de-escalate crises and handle incidents involving persons with mental illness were honored today by state officials at the Ohio Judicial Center.
Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Training is a collaborative effort between law enforcement and the mental health community to help law enforcement officers direct persons with mental illness into treatment instead of inappropriate incarceration. Volunteer patrol officers receive 40 hours of training in mental illness and the local mental health system for free by the local mental health system and other community stakeholders with assistance from the Ohio Criminal Justice Coordinating Center of Excellence (CJ/CCOE), the Ohio Department of Mental Health and the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services.
At a meeting of the Supreme Court of Ohio’s Advisory Committee on Mental Illness & the Courts, Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton and Ohio Department of Mental Health Director Sandra Stephenson recognized University of Akron Police Department Officer John T. Carroll Jr. and Detective Sheri L. Shannon, who was unable to attend, as representatives of the recent class of law enforcement officers trained in Summit County where the 3,000th CIT officer milestone was reached. The Akron Police Department started Ohio’s first CIT program in 2000. The recent graduating class, sponsored by the county Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health Services Board and the local National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) chapter, was the 17th class offered in Summit County.
“We need to encourage everyone to recognize the real successes of CIT,” said Justice Stratton, who chairs the committee. “Every time a person in crisis receives appropriate treatment in the community, there is progress. Every time a first responder intervenes with a person in crisis and the officer safely completes their shift, there is progress. Every time a friend or family member calls and asks for a CIT trained officer to assist someone in need, there is progress. For seeking to improve their understanding of mental illness and their desire to improve their ability to respond to individuals who may be in crisis, these officers saw a problem, they identified a solution and today they are better trained to respond to crises while making our communities safer places for everybody.”
Officers from 64 counties representing 232 police departments and 48 sheriff’s departments have received CIT training. Since this event celebrated all 3,000 CIT trained officers, recent CIT Officers of the Year were on hand to share their experiences: 2004 – Lt. Steve Noftz of the Ohio University Police Department and David Malawista, Chief Deputy of Athens County Sheriff’s Department and Reserve Commander with the Athens Police Department; 2005 – Lt. Chris Bowling of the Columbus Division of Police; and 2008 – Officer Andy Suvada of the Streetsboro Police Department.
Police Chief Paul Callahan, assistant vice president of campus safety for the University of Akron, spoke of the value of CIT recognized by law enforcement leadership and his colleagues at 32 other colleges and universities across the state, which have participated in training. Jim Mauro, executive director of NAMI-Ohio, spoke to the importance of law enforcement officer training from the perspective of family members. Dr. Mark Munetz, clinical director of the CJ/CCOE and the Margaret Clark Morgan Chair of Psychiatry at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, spoke on CIT as an emerging best practice that can save lives and cut costs.
For a high-resolution, print-quality photo of the event, click on the above photo or visit:http://www.supremecourtofohio.gov/Communications_Office/Press_Releases/2008/cit_highres.zip
Contact: Chris Davey or Bret Crow at 614.387.9250.