Police-Encounters-With-People-In-Crisis

as Toronto’s MCIT. Members of Car 87 can then provide an initial assessment and help
connect the client to necessary resources. 35
2. Memphis’ Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT)
(a) A first response by specialized police officers
53. Like other cities transitioning away from institutionalized treatment of persons
with mental illness, by the 1980s the city of Memphis, Tennessee witnessed a significant
increase in police interactions with people in crisis. In response to public pressure in the
aftermath of a police shooting of a young man with a history of mental illness, the Mayor
of Memphis established a task force to address the issue, enlisting help from the police,
psychology department heads at the University of Tennessee, the psychology
department head of the Board of Education, representatives from the University of
Memphis, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, 36 the managers of local mental
health facilities, and members of the public. 37
54. The task force examined a mobile crisis team program in California in which
mental health professionals and police officers responded to people in crisis together.
However, the task force determined the California model was not effective to deal with
rapidly unfolding crises. 38
55. To address the need for a rapid response, the task force identified a model that
involved additional specialized mental health and crisis resolution training for some
police officers (approximately 10-20% of front line officers) in combination with
strengthened community partnerships.
56. Officers voluntarily apply for CIT positions and are selected according to their
demonstrated interest in policing people in crisis, as determined through an interview
and assessment of their work history. CIT officers maintain their patrol duties while
learning new skills through CIT training, and assume the additional responsibilities of
designated responder and lead officer in events involving a person in crisis.
57. CIT officers receive an additional 40 hours of specialized training in mental
illness and interacting with people in crisis, beyond the training on mental illness
provided to all police in basic and in-service training. 39 These officers are trained to be
first responders who can use a more compassionate response to improve the safety of
people in crisis, the public, other officers and themselves. 40 The result is that, within the
ranks of a police service’s primary response officers, there is always a significant
minority of officers who have specialized mental health and crisis resolution training,
who can be dispatched to address crisis calls.
35
Id. at 7.
36
The name of this organization was later changed to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
37
Michael T. Compton et al., The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Model of Collaboration between Law Enforcement and Mental
Health (New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2011) at 14 [Compton, Collaboration].
38
Id. at 15.
39
Ibid.
40
Id. at 29.
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