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The Daily Dispatch
Resource Directory
2011-2012
Crisis Intervention Team trains law enforcement officers in how to deal with mental health crises CIT provides training to law enforcement and others to help them understand mental illness, developmental disabilities and substance abuse disorders. The Crisis Intervention Team is a partnership which enables law enforcement officers to connect persons affected by mental illness, developmental disabilities and substance abuse disorders with treatment options instead of jail whenever possible. CIT is a communitybased partnership which includes law enforcement, Five County Mental Health Authority (LME), mental health providers, magistrates, emergency services personnel, consumers, family members and community partners. CIT provides training to law enforcement and others to help them understand
mental illness, developmental disabilities and substance abuse disorders, including: • Treatment and community resources • Suicide prevention • Mental health issues of older adults and children • Crisis intervention and de-escalation without force when possible CIT was first developed by the Memphis, Tenn., police department and is currently used in 39 states. A total of 108 law enforcement officers have been CIT-certified, representing 16 agencies in Franklin, Granville, Halifax, Vance and Warren counties. Dr. Al Mooney introduced
CIT to the five-county area after visiting Memphis to study the national model program and developing a partnership with the Vance County Sheriff’s Office in 2005. CIT can benefit individuals in need of assistance in the following ways: • Timely connection with treatment • Fewer arrests • Fewer injuries • Reduction of time in hospital emergency departments • More positive interactions with law enforcement • Decreased stigma associated with mental health issues To contact a CIT officer, call or visit the law enforcement
agency where the person needing intervention is located (not necessarily the county or town of residence of that individual). Ask for a CIT officer or an officer trained to respond to a person with mental illness, developmental disabilities or substance abuse disorders. For more information about CIT, contact: • Cynthia Fenner, (252) 430-3048, cfenner@fivecountymha.org • Lt. Scott Strickland, (919) 575-6561, ext. 117, sstrickland@ nccrimecontrol.org • Wanda Brock, (252) 431-0072, ext. 218, wanda.brock@psysolutions.com
Butner public safety officer named CIT Officer of the Year Lt. Scott W. Strickland with Butner Public Safety was named the Crisis Intervention Team 2011 Officer of the Year. Strickland received the award after demonstrating many characteristics that provide a positive role model for fellow fivecounty CIT law enforcement officers. Strickland has executed the mission Lt. Scott Strickland of the CIT program by using supportive law enforcement intervention for dealing with individuals affected by mental illness, developmental disabilities and substance abuse disorders. Strickland was praised for being an extraordinary team player and leader in supporting the CIT training. Strickland became a certified CIT officer in May 2008 and was elected as the Five County CIT Committee law enforcement co-chairman in January 2009. He has served as the instructor/supervisor of Five County CIT training since January of 2010. To date, 108 law enforcement officers in Franklin, Granville, Halifax, Vance and Warren counties have received the training.