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Police crisis intervention team

Mental health crisis response training for police officers

  • 7 min read
  • 3 chapters

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Through North America and Schizophrenia

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) programs are local initiatives designed to improve the way law enforcement and the community respond to people experiencing mental health crisis. CIT programs are built on strong partnerships between law enforcement, mental health provider agencies, and individuals and families affected by mental illness."

History

Mental health contacts and intervention by law enforcement became part of the profession with the deinstitutionalization of nonviolent mentally ill patients in the 1960s. The goal was to allow people receiving treatment in an institution to continue to receive the treatment, but from community service agencies. The money saved by hospital closures was to be transferred to outpatient community programs.

The money intended for outpatient services did not always reach the community. Funding for outpatient treatment services and programs remains lacking in many areas of the United States. This created a gap for people in need of services. Without the assistance, many people stop their treatment programs, which results in some individuals becoming unstable while living in the community, with their families, who are not always equipped to be caregivers.

When people living with serious mental illness experienced psychotic episodes or had a poor quality of life in communities, the police often became the primary resource for assistance. Law enforcement has historically been seen as serving vulnerable community members, typically viewed as victims of crime. Due to the lack of resources and treatment for people with mental illness, they became some of the most vulnerable individuals in many communities, leading officers to become frontline mental health workers.

In September 1987, Memphis, Tennessee, police responded to a 911 call involving a man with a history of mental illness who was cutting himself with a knife and threatening suicide. When officers arrived, they ordered the man to drop the knife. The man became more upset and ran toward the officers with the knife still in his hand. Officers then shot and killed the man.

Officers were trained to use deadly force when they perceived their own or someone else's life to be in grave danger. This incident received criticism because the perception was that the only life in danger was the man who wanted to harm himself. This occurred during a time of racial tension in Memphis, and the man was African-American; both officers were white. This incident was the catalyst for the creation of the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) in Memphis.

The Memphis Police Department partnered with the Memphis chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, mental health providers, and two universities (University of Memphis and University of Tennessee) in organizing, training, and implementing a specialized unit. This new alliance aimed to develop a more intelligent, understandable, and safe approach to mental health crisis events. The community effort led to the formation of the Memphis Police Department's Crisis Intervention Team.

The Memphis CIT program has achieved notable success, in large part due to its true community partnership. Today, the "Memphis Model" has been adopted by more than 2,700 communities in the U.S. and other countries.

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