022514 cit overview for the mayor and city council 2014

8/12/2019 022514 Cit Overview for the Mayor and City Council 2014

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CIT Overview for the Mayor and City Council

Sgt. David Cavanaugh Page 1

Review:

Background

CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) is rooted in a program developed in Memphis in

1988. CIT is a community-based collaboration between law enforcement, NAMI(National Alliance for the Mentally Ill), those suffering from mental illness, their

families, advocates and mental health providers. The purpose of the program is

to help law enforcement officers more effectively manage incidents involving

mentally ill people in crisis. The City of Boise Ombudsman recommended BPD

implement this program in 2006 following a critical incident.

2007 the BPD CIT Coordinator started collecting data on a variety of existing CIT

program models including:

Portland Police Bureau San Diego Police Department Phoenix and Mesa Police Departments Anchorage Police Department Colorado State CIT Coordinator CIT International Las Vegas Metro Police Department University of Memphis CIT Center

During the year of 2008 he wrote a forty hour CIT course which met the specific needs

of the City of Boise which has been supported and endorsed by NAMI - Boise.

During the summer of 2008 a four hour block on Emergency Mental Holds and CIT was

presented as a part of mandatory quarterly training to sworn officers.

As of February 7th, 2014, CIT classes have been presented in Boise six times. A total of

61 Officers (and civilians) have completed the training. This number represents 22

percent of our workforce and slightly exceeds our stated goal of achieving 20 percent

department certified officers

As a part of the Idaho CIT Working Group, the Boise Police CIT coordinator wrote an

eight hour CIT over-view class which has been presented to smaller law enforcement

agencies around the state.


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Classes on de-escalation of people in crisis and an overview of the BPD CIT Program

have been presented to local medical practices, Emergency Room staff, Boise Public

Library staff and to Boise Police Civilian employees.

In 2009 the CIT Coordinator created a Veteran s Sequential Intercept model which has

since been adopted by police agencies across the country and endorsed by the

Pentagon.

Current:

On-going Projects:

Veterans Resource Group Monthly Meetings County Mental Health Monthly Group Idaho CIT working Group Quarterly Video Conference Treasure Valley CIT Accommodation Registry Project, including a focus on

cloud based storage solutions for information protected by medical and

privacy laws.

CIT for Dispatch Continued Community Outreach and Education

Expansion of CIT and Veteran

s Intercept referral Program

Partnership with the Ada County Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee inresearching best practice for a Mental Health Crisis Center

Collaboration with the Ada County Community Paramedics Program Collaboration with the Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline and possible

deferment of calls

Collaboration and Support for IHW 23 hour Community Crisis CounselingCenters


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Future of the Program:

By 2020 the department has established a goal of having greater than 50 percent

of our officers CIT certified. We intend to accomplish this by:

Requiring CIT certification as a perquisite for applying for SRO, NCO andBike officer

Requiring CIT certification as a prerequisite for applying for vacancies inthe HNT (hostage negotiation team),

Requiring CIT certification of all new officers hired in 2014 and beyond, Requiring CIT certification for all future members of the Special Operations

Group, especially the entry team members,

Requiring CIT certification for all future field training officers. In 2014 and in each successive year the department will include an annual

update in our in-service training, refresher training on CIT related

intervention and tactics designed for a successful resolution.

In 2014 hire a part-time mental health coordinator, perhaps on a sharedbasis with the Meridian Police Department to collect data, communicate

with officers and other stakeholders.

In 2014 we are working with numerous agencies on to evaluate andimprove systems, such as an accommodation registry, designed toprovide officers responding to the crisis with medical and diffusing

information specific to that person in crisis. Past attempts to place this

information in government databases have largely failed because of

privacy laws and liability related issues on updating, reacting and removing

these forms. Cloud based technology appears to resolve these issues yet

still is able to provide contemporaneous information to first responding

officers designed to keep parties safe successfully resolve the crisis

situation.

Ideally,Hire a qualified full time CIT coordinator whose duties will include: Take over the management of the program and to coordinate future basic

and advanced Training

Attend meetings Coordinate community outreach programs


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Initiate Public Service Announcements Research best practice in CIT and recommend modifications to the existing

program

Work with existing and expand the program community partnerships

Conclusion

The Boise Police Department has demonstrated its leadership commitment and

designated the highest priority necessary to develop Crisis Intervention Teams to the

level where we are today. We accomplish that goal during a time when funding was

limited due to the Great Recession. We believe that progress, albeit slow and

deliberate, has served the department well and has undoubtedly saved lives in our

community.

022514 cit overview for the mayor and city council 2014

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