Crisis Intervention Team | Cumberland County Mental Health Center

CIT is an effective training and response program designed for law enforcement officers who handle crisis calls involving people with mental illness, developmental disabilities and addiction disease. CIT is a pre-booking jail diversion program which seeks to prevent arrest and incarceration for misdemeanor or “nuisance” crimes and to connect the individual with treatment resources instead.

History
The Memphis, Tennessee Police Department developed the first CIT program in 1988 following a tragic incident in which officers fatally shot a suicidal man. The Memphis CIT was developed to better equip officers to respond to persons experiencing a serious mental health crisis. CIT quickly spread to jurisdictions throughout the United States. The first CIT program in North Carolina was established in Wake County in 2005. In early 2008 a local task force was convened develop a CIT program in Cumberland County. After many months of planning, the Fayetteville-Cumberland CIT program graduated its first class of law enforcement officers in June 2009.

Specialized Training
The Fayetteville-Cumberland CIT Academy is based on the original model developed by the Memphis Police Department. Law enforcement officers earn CIT Certification by successfully completing an intensive 40-hour training and evaluation process. Continuing Education Credits are awarded by Fayetteville Technical Community College. Training modules include:

Mental Health 101: Clinical Disorders
Crisis Intervention and Verbal De-escalation
Suicide: Risk Factors & Intervention
Trauma & PTSD
Military & Veterans Issues
Interactions with Consumers and Families
Simulated “Hearing Voices” Exercise
Site Visits to Treatment Programs
Community Resources & Mobile Crisis Teams
Responding to Children & Adolescents
Personality Disorders
Dementia & Aging
Homelessness & Mental Illness
Excited Delirium
Interactive Role Plays
Evaluation and Feedback from Certified CIT Officers

Benefits of CIT

·         Rapid and effective crisis response
·         Enhanced de-escalation skills for officers
·         Decrease in the use of force during crisis events
·         Decrease in number of injuries to consumers
·         Decrease in the number of injuries to officers
·         Decrease in the number of arrests for misdemeanors
·         Cost savings in time and financial resources
·         Officer and department recognition and appreciation

Participating Departments

The Fayetteville-Cumberland CIT program welcomes the participation of new law enforcement agencies and other first responders. We have trained officers from the following law enforcement agencies and divisions:

Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office
Cumberland County Detention Center
Cumberland County Juvenile Detention Center
Fayetteville Police Department
Fort Bragg – Dept. of the Army Civilian Police
Pope Air Force Base Security Forces
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base Security Forces
NC State Bureau of Investigation (SBI)
Fayetteville VA Medical Center Police Service
Hope Mills Police Department
Spring Lake Police Department
Fayetteville Tech. Community College – Public Safety
Methodist University Police
Allied Barton/CFVMC Police
Hoke County Sheriff’s Office
Lee County Sheriff’s Office