Law Enforcement Crisis Intervention

Law Enforcement Crisis Intervention

Unit 5 Mid-Term Assignment

By

Diana Karpitskaya

Role of law enforcement other front-line personnel

Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) was born from the tragic results of interactions between police and the mentally ill and provides officers skills in the identification of individuals suffering from various types of mental illness and other issues such as developmental disability, mood disorder, and substance abuse and gives them skills to communicate with them in a manner that will de-escalates tense situations. (Russell)

Starting in the 60s and 70s community and professional attitudes towards the mentally ill began to change.  Increasingly, communities and mental health professionals began to recognize the rights of the mentally ill to live independently. Previously many people struggling with mental illness or developmental disabilities had been institutionalized for their entire lives, given strong medications and isolated from society. Now they began to receive their treatment in the community, and interact more frequently with the general public, as well as with law enforcement and security personnel, and all too frequently with unfortunate consequences. (Russell)

CIT is a specialized training program utilizing mental health and substance abuse experts, legal experts, consumer/family advocates, and experienced CIT officers. They teach law enforcement officers how to de-escalate volatile situations involving those with mental health disorders. The training is accomplished through role playing, learning about the likely behavior of people experiencing a mental health crisis, listening and interaction skills, hospital emergency room protocols, resources available for the mentally ill, and other information. The CIT course is designed to support law enforcement officers in addressing mental health crisis situations, prevent unnecessary incarceration, and get people who need mental health treatment the help they...