Bartlett police implement Crisis Interventio

The Bartlett Police Department has implemented a five-member Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) and joins only a few other police departments in the area to incorporate such a program.

The Crisis Intervention Team consists of law enforcement officers, who received intensive specialized training on dealing with individuals in the community, who have a mental illness or other behavioral disabilities. Community members can identify CIT officers by a standardized CIT pin worn on the officers’ uniforms.

The training at the IDEAS Training Center in Urbana, consisted of a 40-hour block of instruction to include: mental illness recognition, substance abuse and dual diagnosis, child and adolescent disorders, psychotropic medications, geriatric issues, autism, law enforcement compliant surrender, excited delirium, risk assessment, and crisis intervention skills.

The Crisis Intervention Team networks with surrounding mental health agencies to provide appropriate care and resources to the individual and their families. CIT officers will immediately respond and provide those in need of services with care.

CIT officers are better trained and educated in de-escalation techniques. The advantages to the implementation of the CIT is to reduce repeat calls to those who need CIT intervention, increase officer safety, decrease arrest rates for the mentally ill, and decrease the use of force.

Those families or individuals, who know a person with a mental illness, a geriatric, anyone on psychotropic medications, etc. can register with the new Smart911 technology service in order to provide emergency personnel with additional information when 9-1-1 is called.