Local CIT named statewide program of the year
The Daily RecordDec 16, 2019
“We deal with mental illness every single day,” said Fatzinger, a 21-year WPD veteran. “... Officers just need to have a little empathy and compassion for people and treat them as if they’re your son or your daughter or your mother or father who’s in crisis, and treat them the way you expect them to be treated. And that’s basically what it comes down to.”
That philosophy is the core of Crisis Intervention Team training, a program that gives law enforcement officers and other first responders a deeper understanding of mental illnesses and techniques to de-escalate situations involving people in mental health crisis.
Fatzinger, along with Ptl.
“We just feel really honored that we were chosen,” Walkerly said. “We’ve really grown a lot.”
The CIT program of
Statewide, there are 45 CIT programs, and every county has at least one CIT-trained officer. The training typically takes the form of a 40-hour class over the course of five days.
The training includes education on a wide variety of mental illnesses in children and adults, as well as strategies for how to defuse law enforcement situations with people with mental illnesses. Officers also get information on the involuntary commitment process, also known as issuing a “pink slip” to get someone into a hospital for treatment, and get a more hands-on experience with mental illness by having to complete a shopping list while wearing headphones that simulate schizophrenia.
All of this, Walkerly said, makes the entire community safer.
“The more that we can provide them as far as information and skills to de-escalate and understand what’s going on, the (safer it will) be,” Walkerly said. “We want all of our officers to go home at the end of the day safe, and we want all citizens to be safe.”
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