Centre County’s Crisis Intervention Team reached a milestone on Friday as it surpassed 500 first responders to graduate from the program since its inception in 2011.
A graduation ceremony held at the Ferguson Township Municipal Building concluded of the 27th Crisis Intervention Team training. Eleven trainees from the State College and Ferguson Township police departments, Centre County Sheriff’s Office, Correctional Facility and Emergency Communications, Centre LifeLink EMS and Center for Community Resources completed the most recent 40-hour program to bring the total number of graduates to 508.
The Centre County CIT was established as a local chapter of the nationally recognized program thanks in part to a grant awarded in December 2010.
CIT provides a law enforcement-based intervention and de-escalation response to situations involving individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. The program is offered to police, corrections and probation/parole officers, sheriff’s deputies, emergency medical services personnel, 911 staff, mental health professionals, advocates and other related responders.
“The goal of CIT is to increase safety for all those involved and to divert or lessen the impact of the criminal justice system for people experiencing behavioral, emotional or mental health crises,” according to a county news release.
Some of the training topics include recognizing and understanding specific signs and symptoms of mental illness; understanding how mental health affects various segments of the population; the effects and side effects of psychotropic medication and basic and advanced verbal de-escalation techniques.
Centre County CIT trainings are held twice a year and include lectures, on-site visits to mental health facilities, interactions with individuals with a mental illness and scenario-based de-escalation skill training.
Each Centre County law enforcement agency has a goal to have a CIT officer on duty during each shift, and residents can ask for one when calling about intervention for a person experiencing a mental health crisis.
The Centre County CIT noted that with Friday’s graduation the State College Police Department became the first police department in the county to be 100% CIT-trained.
