Twenty law enforcement personnel graduated from Crisis Intervention Team, or CIT, training on March 10. The graduates represented Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, Rocky Top Police Department, Anderson County Corrections Office, and Blount Memorial Security.

CIT is an innovative first-responder model of police-based crisis intervention with community, health care, and advocacy partnerships. CIT provides 40 hours of specialized training for problem solving and de-escalating crisis situations with individuals who have a mental illness. Studies show it also improves the safety of patrol officers, consumers, family members, and citizens within the community, a press release said.

“Thanks to the partnership between the Oak Ridge City Police Department, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Ridgeview Behavioral Health, NAMI Oak Ridge, the Mental Health Association of East Tennessee, and other community health advocates, our community has better equipped itself with first responders who have an effective set of communication and problem solving skills,” Oak Ridge Police Department Chief James Akagi said in his opening remarks.

So far, the East Tennessee Crisis Intervention Team has trained more than 180 law enforcement personnel, the press release said. [Read more…]