Testimonials

The History of CIT

The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program was developed in 1988 in response to a tragic incident. In 1987, police officers in Memphis, Tennessee fatally shot a suicidal person who was cutting himself with a knife and who approached the officers while holding the knife. There was a public outcry after the shooting. This outcry caused the mayor to establish a task force comprised of representatives of the police department, the medical center at the University of Tennessee, the board of education, local mental health facilities, local citizens, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). The task force created the CIT program in an attempt to prevent this type of tragedy from occurring in the future. The Memphis Police Department's program has become the model for law enforcement agencies across the nation.

PBH began it’s CIT program in January of 2008

• Train law enforcement officers and others to safely respond to people in crisis
• Protect the rights of people with disabilities
• Ensure that people with disabilities always receive treatment in lieu of incarceration, when most appropriate
• Improve the quality and quantity of community services and treatment options
• Promote adequate training for criminal justice system personnel about mental illnesses, developmental disabilities, substance abuse and geriatric illnesses