On Tuesday, October 28, the Council of State Governments Justice Center, with support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice, will sponsor a one-hour webinar during which "national experts in law enforcement and mental health will discuss effective crisis response models. They will outline how community behavioral health care providers and law enforcement can collaborate and tailor responses to the problems of their jurisdiction. The webinar spotlights Improving Responses to People with Mental Illnesses: The Essential Elements of a Specialized Law Enforcement-Based Program, a report supported by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice. Written by the Council of State Governments Justice Center and the Police Executive Research Forum, it highlights 10 key components for improving officers' encounters with individuals with mental illnesses."
Presenters include Captain Richard Wall, Los Angeles Police Department; Fred Osher, M.D., Director of Health Systems and Services Policy, CSG Justice Center; and Melissa Reuland, Senior Research Consultant, Police Executive Research Forum.
Registration is free but is limited to the first 1,000 people. To register, go to http://www2.eventsvc.com/nationalcouncil/, select the law enforcement/mental health event, and enter the coupon code COUNCIL at checkout.
If you are registering for a webinar for the first time, create a profile with the email and password of your choice. A confirmation with webinar access information will be sent to the email address you enter.
Participation will require Internet access and a phone line. Participants from the same location are encouraged to use a single phone line - one individual may register and get access information for the whole group.
Contact Communications@thenationalcouncil or call 301.984.6200 with questions.
For more information, go to http://consensusproject.org/updates/announcements-and-events/Oct2008/webinaroct08.
Showing posts with label CIT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CIT. Show all posts
Monday, October 20, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
The History of Crisis Intervention Teams
The June 2008 issue of Law Enforcement Technology features an interesting article on the history of Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT), pioneered by the Memphis Police Department.
Here are a few excerpts:
"The program builds a team of officers available to respond to calls that partner with families, mental health providers and individuals who are diagnosed with mental diseases. The Crisis Intervention Team, or CIT, preserves the individual's dignity, insures greater safety for both responding officers and the mentally ill person — called consumers — and reassures families."
"NAMI (Memphis) credits CIT with saving lives and preventing injuries, both for consumers and officers," [Major Sam] Cochran [of the Memphis Police Department] wrote in an opinion piece on the department's Web site. "Officer injury data has decreased by seven-fold since the program's inception. University of Tennessee studies have shown that the CIT program has resulted in a decrease in arrests rates for the mentally ill.
"Most importantly, CIT officers give consumers a sense of dignity. This dignity generates a new respect and outlook on the police and the mental health systems."
Read "Diffusing Crisis" in its entirety.
Here are a few excerpts:
"The program builds a team of officers available to respond to calls that partner with families, mental health providers and individuals who are diagnosed with mental diseases. The Crisis Intervention Team, or CIT, preserves the individual's dignity, insures greater safety for both responding officers and the mentally ill person — called consumers — and reassures families."
"NAMI (Memphis) credits CIT with saving lives and preventing injuries, both for consumers and officers," [Major Sam] Cochran [of the Memphis Police Department] wrote in an opinion piece on the department's Web site. "Officer injury data has decreased by seven-fold since the program's inception. University of Tennessee studies have shown that the CIT program has resulted in a decrease in arrests rates for the mentally ill.
"Most importantly, CIT officers give consumers a sense of dignity. This dignity generates a new respect and outlook on the police and the mental health systems."
Read "Diffusing Crisis" in its entirety.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Pilot Crisis Intervention Project in Houston
According to the Houston Chronicle, ("Mental health experts, HPD team up to help patients," May 13, 2008), the Houston Police Department has developed a new pilot program aimed at defusing crisis situations involving people with mental illness.
Here's the article:
"Mental health professionals are riding alongside Houston police in a six-month pilot program designed to help defuse crisis situations involving unstable people, officials said.
The program, which began this month, pairs an HPD officer with a licensed mental health case worker to form a Crisis Intervention Response Team, officials said.
'The CIRT program is the only one of its kind in the state of Texas,' HPD Chief Harold Hurtt said Wednesday.
HPD officials said two officers are assigned full-time to the program while a second pair are working on a part-time basis. The officers are certified in crisis intervention.
Unlike other CIT-trained officers, those in the CIRT program will respond solely to scenes involving possible mental health issues, officials said.
'You actually have the opportunity to do follow-ups because I'm not hampered by other calls for service,' said Eric Chimney, one of the HPD officers assigned to the pilot program.
The department has about 1,000 CIT-trained officers — with about 800 assigned to patrol units. They will remain the first line of response for the 1,200 to 1,500 mental health crisis calls received each month, officials said.
With a mental health worker at their side, the officer will have immediate access to critical information, such as medical background.
'Officers don't have that type of access, but working together, we do now,' said HPD Lt. Michael Lee, supervisor of the department's crisis intervention teams.
The clinicians, who work for the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority, will help after HPD officers secure the scene, officials said."
Here's the article:
"Mental health professionals are riding alongside Houston police in a six-month pilot program designed to help defuse crisis situations involving unstable people, officials said.
The program, which began this month, pairs an HPD officer with a licensed mental health case worker to form a Crisis Intervention Response Team, officials said.
'The CIRT program is the only one of its kind in the state of Texas,' HPD Chief Harold Hurtt said Wednesday.
HPD officials said two officers are assigned full-time to the program while a second pair are working on a part-time basis. The officers are certified in crisis intervention.
Unlike other CIT-trained officers, those in the CIRT program will respond solely to scenes involving possible mental health issues, officials said.
'You actually have the opportunity to do follow-ups because I'm not hampered by other calls for service,' said Eric Chimney, one of the HPD officers assigned to the pilot program.
The department has about 1,000 CIT-trained officers — with about 800 assigned to patrol units. They will remain the first line of response for the 1,200 to 1,500 mental health crisis calls received each month, officials said.
With a mental health worker at their side, the officer will have immediate access to critical information, such as medical background.
'Officers don't have that type of access, but working together, we do now,' said HPD Lt. Michael Lee, supervisor of the department's crisis intervention teams.
The clinicians, who work for the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority, will help after HPD officers secure the scene, officials said."
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Criminal Justice and Mental Illness in Travis County
KUT, the public radio station in Austin, recently aired a story about efforts to stem the criminalization of people with mental illness in Travis County. The bottom line? More money is needed for programs that provide treatment for those with mental illness and help keep them out of jail.
Listen to the story.
Listen to the story.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Austin Police Department Assist Those with Mental Illness
From the Austin American-Statesman, December 29, 2007:
Protecting and serving the mentally ill: Austin police crisis officers strain to fill gaps in mental health care in the face of budget cuts, growing caseload
By Joshunda Sanders
Willie, 71, was muttering to himself underneath a dying palm tree in his Clarksville front yard when Austin police officers Donnie Williamson and Kim Devitt showed up. He glanced at the familiar white car, then scurried into his house, screaming, "What'd I do now?"
Williamson approached Willie's door. "We're just here to check on you," he said calmly. "Go home now!" the older man yelled, slamming his door shut.
Like hundreds of other mentally ill people in Austin, Willie's not an immediate danger to anyone. (His last name has been withheld because he was not charged with any wrongdoing.) Still, he demands a lot of attention and resources, mainly those of the Austin Police Department's Crisis Intervention Team. Since 1998, police officers have visited him more than 20 times, trying to get him help or medication, to no avail. Williamson, a 21-year-veteran of the department who has been with the crisis team for five years, said, "You have to switch hats between police work and social work."
The team of six officers, created in 1999, follows up on attempted suicide calls, or visits people who either don't have or won't take medication. Patients with immediate needs are taken to psychiatric emergency services run by Austin Travis County Mental Health Mental Retardation Center. If officers take someone to be treated, they follow up with home visits and with center workers to make sure people are getting the help they need.
In the past, officers could take people like Willie to the state hospital. Now, they can only drop them at Brackenridge and Seton hospital emergency rooms. Willie is one of an estimated 900 people expected to need treatment in the next year who might not get it, according to the county. The Austin Travis County Mental Health Mental Retardation Center cut the number of Austin State Hospital beds available to mentally ill people in the city and county from 110 to about 63 this year because of inadequate state funding.
When Willie started tossing things around and screaming uncontrollably inside his house, Williamson said to Devitt, "We better go."
To no one in particular, he said, "I'd love to put him in the hospital to get him the medication he needs, but there's nothing illegal about being crazy in your own house."
Austin police officers work alongside nine Travis County sheriff's deputies on the Austin State Hospital campus.
About 200 officers on the force are trained to deal with the mentally ill as part of their normal duties, but the crisis team goes beyond that, said police Sgt. Michael Turner, who oversees the unit. Every year, Turner said, his unit faces caseload increases, possibly fueled by out-of-county clients. In 2006, officers wrote 5,685 reports; as of this November, the unit had 6,031 reports, about 20 per officer per week. "It's hard and can be frustrating work," Williamson said. "But I try to look at it as if this person was my kid — how would I want someone to deal with him?"
Devitt tried a similar approach with 51-year-old Marissa, communicating through a rickety apartment windowpane. The electricity had been shut off at her tiny downtown apartment, so when temperatures dropped, she had no heat. Her solution: burning charcoal in bowls inside her house.
"We don't want you burning this place up," Devitt warned. "You just call us if your lights go out again." Devitt and Williamson backed away from the apartment, cautiously eyeing the old wood before they got back into their police car and drove to their next visit.
joshundasanders@statesman.com;445-3630
MORE ON THIS STORY: On the beat with the Crisis Intervention Unit
Protecting and serving the mentally ill: Austin police crisis officers strain to fill gaps in mental health care in the face of budget cuts, growing caseload
By Joshunda Sanders
Willie, 71, was muttering to himself underneath a dying palm tree in his Clarksville front yard when Austin police officers Donnie Williamson and Kim Devitt showed up. He glanced at the familiar white car, then scurried into his house, screaming, "What'd I do now?"
Williamson approached Willie's door. "We're just here to check on you," he said calmly. "Go home now!" the older man yelled, slamming his door shut.
Like hundreds of other mentally ill people in Austin, Willie's not an immediate danger to anyone. (His last name has been withheld because he was not charged with any wrongdoing.) Still, he demands a lot of attention and resources, mainly those of the Austin Police Department's Crisis Intervention Team. Since 1998, police officers have visited him more than 20 times, trying to get him help or medication, to no avail. Williamson, a 21-year-veteran of the department who has been with the crisis team for five years, said, "You have to switch hats between police work and social work."
The team of six officers, created in 1999, follows up on attempted suicide calls, or visits people who either don't have or won't take medication. Patients with immediate needs are taken to psychiatric emergency services run by Austin Travis County Mental Health Mental Retardation Center. If officers take someone to be treated, they follow up with home visits and with center workers to make sure people are getting the help they need.
In the past, officers could take people like Willie to the state hospital. Now, they can only drop them at Brackenridge and Seton hospital emergency rooms. Willie is one of an estimated 900 people expected to need treatment in the next year who might not get it, according to the county. The Austin Travis County Mental Health Mental Retardation Center cut the number of Austin State Hospital beds available to mentally ill people in the city and county from 110 to about 63 this year because of inadequate state funding.
When Willie started tossing things around and screaming uncontrollably inside his house, Williamson said to Devitt, "We better go."
To no one in particular, he said, "I'd love to put him in the hospital to get him the medication he needs, but there's nothing illegal about being crazy in your own house."
Austin police officers work alongside nine Travis County sheriff's deputies on the Austin State Hospital campus.
About 200 officers on the force are trained to deal with the mentally ill as part of their normal duties, but the crisis team goes beyond that, said police Sgt. Michael Turner, who oversees the unit. Every year, Turner said, his unit faces caseload increases, possibly fueled by out-of-county clients. In 2006, officers wrote 5,685 reports; as of this November, the unit had 6,031 reports, about 20 per officer per week. "It's hard and can be frustrating work," Williamson said. "But I try to look at it as if this person was my kid — how would I want someone to deal with him?"
Devitt tried a similar approach with 51-year-old Marissa, communicating through a rickety apartment windowpane. The electricity had been shut off at her tiny downtown apartment, so when temperatures dropped, she had no heat. Her solution: burning charcoal in bowls inside her house.
"We don't want you burning this place up," Devitt warned. "You just call us if your lights go out again." Devitt and Williamson backed away from the apartment, cautiously eyeing the old wood before they got back into their police car and drove to their next visit.
joshundasanders@statesman.com;445-3630
MORE ON THIS STORY: On the beat with the Crisis Intervention Unit
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
The history of HPD crisis team and why city needs it
That's the title of an op-ed that appeared this past Sunday in the Houston Chronicle by Betsy Schwartz and Steven Schnee. Schwartz is the president and CEO of the Mental Health Association of Greater Houston. Schnee is executive director of the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County.
Here is an excerpt:
"There has been much discussion recently about the Houston Police Department's Crisis Intervention Team (CIT). As individuals who were involved in the establishment of CIT, we want to ensure people understand why it was originally created and how it serves our community.
Unfortunately, there are not enough mental health services in the community to meet the needs of individuals with mental illness. Until the resources are available to significantly build that capacity, law enforcement will continue to have frequent encounters with people experiencing psychiatric crises."
Read the entire op-ed at www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5213369.html.
Here is an excerpt:
"There has been much discussion recently about the Houston Police Department's Crisis Intervention Team (CIT). As individuals who were involved in the establishment of CIT, we want to ensure people understand why it was originally created and how it serves our community.
Unfortunately, there are not enough mental health services in the community to meet the needs of individuals with mental illness. Until the resources are available to significantly build that capacity, law enforcement will continue to have frequent encounters with people experiencing psychiatric crises."
Read the entire op-ed at www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5213369.html.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Editorial on Crisis Intervention Training for Houston Police
Here's an editorial that appeared October 9, 2007 in the Houston Chronicle, with regard to training the Houston police force how to deal effectively with people with mental illness:
"In the past year Houston officers have fatally shot four mentally ill people during confrontations. The rash of incidents indicates officers need much more tactical and sensitivity training in order to subdue irrational suspects while preventing unnecessary loss of life.
The Metropolitan Organization, a network of community activists, called on Mayor Bill White to institute an incentive pay program to coax officers into training as crisis intervention specialists. While the request is well-intentioned, the department is short of officers and money. Police officers should not need to be lured by more dollars to learn how to do their job and protect life.
In recent years HPD salaries have been substantially boosted. There is no need for an incentive program for police officers who already have a testing system for promotions to higher paying ranks.
As Mayor White pointed out, every HPD officer graduating from a cadet class should be an expert in dealing with the mentally ill. Unfortunately, of the nearly 4,900 officers on the force, only about 700 have had the required training. For all those in positions where they might encounter deranged suspects or supervise such situations, crisis training should be a priority.
Betsy Schwartz, head of the Mental Health Association for Greater Houston, said some officers are temperamentally unsuited for a job that requires them to control a scene without force. They should be screened out, and only properly trained officers should be sent on calls involving the mentally ill. That policy seems only reasonable, but it should not require incentive pay to implement.
State legislation already exists requiring veteran police officers to take 16 hours of training by 2009 in how to deal with mentally ill persons without resorting to violence. Yet less than 25 percent of HPD officers have taken the course two years after the Bob Meadours Act became law. The bill mandates that veteran officers must have completed the training by September 2009.
Although HPD initiated crisis training in 1999, officers have shot at least 15 mentally ill people since then. In only one of those incidents had the officer involved gone through intervention training — this despite the fact that HPD claims to have the largest officer training program for mental health in the nation. Just last month, one of HPD's trainers was in Alabama giving such instruction to the Mobile County Sheriff's Department.
It's admirable to assist other law enforcement agencies, but it would be more desirable if all appropriate Houston officers went through the program before it was marketed elsewhere. Mayor White should instruct Chief Harold Hurtt to comply with the law and make sure veteran officers receive the same crisis training that is taught to incoming cadets."
Learn more about Crisis Intervention Training from the NAMI website.
"In the past year Houston officers have fatally shot four mentally ill people during confrontations. The rash of incidents indicates officers need much more tactical and sensitivity training in order to subdue irrational suspects while preventing unnecessary loss of life.
The Metropolitan Organization, a network of community activists, called on Mayor Bill White to institute an incentive pay program to coax officers into training as crisis intervention specialists. While the request is well-intentioned, the department is short of officers and money. Police officers should not need to be lured by more dollars to learn how to do their job and protect life.
In recent years HPD salaries have been substantially boosted. There is no need for an incentive program for police officers who already have a testing system for promotions to higher paying ranks.
As Mayor White pointed out, every HPD officer graduating from a cadet class should be an expert in dealing with the mentally ill. Unfortunately, of the nearly 4,900 officers on the force, only about 700 have had the required training. For all those in positions where they might encounter deranged suspects or supervise such situations, crisis training should be a priority.
Betsy Schwartz, head of the Mental Health Association for Greater Houston, said some officers are temperamentally unsuited for a job that requires them to control a scene without force. They should be screened out, and only properly trained officers should be sent on calls involving the mentally ill. That policy seems only reasonable, but it should not require incentive pay to implement.
State legislation already exists requiring veteran police officers to take 16 hours of training by 2009 in how to deal with mentally ill persons without resorting to violence. Yet less than 25 percent of HPD officers have taken the course two years after the Bob Meadours Act became law. The bill mandates that veteran officers must have completed the training by September 2009.
Although HPD initiated crisis training in 1999, officers have shot at least 15 mentally ill people since then. In only one of those incidents had the officer involved gone through intervention training — this despite the fact that HPD claims to have the largest officer training program for mental health in the nation. Just last month, one of HPD's trainers was in Alabama giving such instruction to the Mobile County Sheriff's Department.
It's admirable to assist other law enforcement agencies, but it would be more desirable if all appropriate Houston officers went through the program before it was marketed elsewhere. Mayor White should instruct Chief Harold Hurtt to comply with the law and make sure veteran officers receive the same crisis training that is taught to incoming cadets."
Learn more about Crisis Intervention Training from the NAMI website.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Forum Criticizes Houston Police Dept.'s Mental Health Response
http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5032429.htmlTuesday, Aug. 7, 2007
Quanell X forum criticizes HPD mental health response
By DALE LEZON
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
Quanell X held a town hall meeting Monday in southeast Houston, hoping to call attention to mental health issues as he criticized the Houston Police Department's recent efforts to defuse crisis situations involving unstablepeople.
At least three people have been killed by HPD officers in the past several months, including last week's shooting death of Reginald Sumbler, 21. Sumbler, who called authorities July 31 and told them he planned to commit suicide, died during a standoff near his home in south Houston. HPD officials said the officers fired only after Sumbler pointed a pistol at them and shot in their direction.
"Is it safe to call HPD when you have mentally ill loved ones?" Quanell asked a crowd of about 100 at the New Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church at 12707 Cullen.A panel of mental-health professionals, lawyers and the families of people recently killed by HPD officers during confrontations answered questions about handling mentally unstable relatives. "It's a big responsibility for the family," Joseph L. Jefferson, a psychotherapist, said. "Make sure he takes his medications."
The forum also covered the process for HPD dispatchers to route emergency calls about mentally unstable people. Calls should be routed so police officers dispatched are trained to peacefully defuse the confrontations, Quanell X said.HPD Capt. Bruce Williams said about 500 officers are trained by the Crisis Intervention Team to respond to mentally ill suspects. He said HPD would liketo send a CIT-trained officers for all mentally ill suspects but does not have the manpower. dale.lezon@chron.com
***
Learn more about the Crisis Intervention Team Model, which was pioneered by the Memphis Police Department in 1988 and has since been adopted in hundreds of communities around the United States.
Quanell X forum criticizes HPD mental health response
By DALE LEZON
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
Quanell X held a town hall meeting Monday in southeast Houston, hoping to call attention to mental health issues as he criticized the Houston Police Department's recent efforts to defuse crisis situations involving unstablepeople.
At least three people have been killed by HPD officers in the past several months, including last week's shooting death of Reginald Sumbler, 21. Sumbler, who called authorities July 31 and told them he planned to commit suicide, died during a standoff near his home in south Houston. HPD officials said the officers fired only after Sumbler pointed a pistol at them and shot in their direction.
"Is it safe to call HPD when you have mentally ill loved ones?" Quanell asked a crowd of about 100 at the New Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church at 12707 Cullen.A panel of mental-health professionals, lawyers and the families of people recently killed by HPD officers during confrontations answered questions about handling mentally unstable relatives. "It's a big responsibility for the family," Joseph L. Jefferson, a psychotherapist, said. "Make sure he takes his medications."
The forum also covered the process for HPD dispatchers to route emergency calls about mentally unstable people. Calls should be routed so police officers dispatched are trained to peacefully defuse the confrontations, Quanell X said.HPD Capt. Bruce Williams said about 500 officers are trained by the Crisis Intervention Team to respond to mentally ill suspects. He said HPD would liketo send a CIT-trained officers for all mentally ill suspects but does not have the manpower. dale.lezon@chron.com
***
Learn more about the Crisis Intervention Team Model, which was pioneered by the Memphis Police Department in 1988 and has since been adopted in hundreds of communities around the United States.
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