Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Trained Officers
Working to provide mental health training to law enforcement and reduce the arrests of individuals with mental illness
The lack of mental health crisis services across the U.S. has resulted in law enforcement officers serving as first responders to most mental health-related crises. The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program is an innovative, community-based approach to improve the outcomes of these encounters.
Law enforcement officers who receive Crisis Intervention Team training can:
- Give police officers more tools to do their job safely and effectively.
- Keep law enforcement’s focus on crime. Some communities have found that CIT has reduced the time officers spend responding to a mental health call. This puts officers back into the community more quickly.
- Produce cost savings. It’s difficult to estimate exactly how much diversion programs can save communities, but incarceration is costly compared to community-based treatment.