11 complete fall CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) training for law enforcement

Eleven law enforcement officers from nine different departments recently completed the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training, sponsored by the Four County ADAMhs Board and NAMI Four County.

This was the 11th training that the ADAMhs Board has coordinated in the last eight years.  A total of 163 law enforcement officers from area police and sheriff departments as well as probation, corrections officers and chaplains have been trained in techniques that have been proven effective for de-escalating crisis situations involving mentally ill persons.

During the week-long training, a variety of mental health topics are presented to help participants recognize when they are dealing with a situation that may involve someone with a mental illness and understand how mental illnesses are treated as well as the types of medications that may be prescribed.

With more than 160 law enforcement officers now trained in CIT in Defiance, Fulton, Henry and Williams counties, family members or friends of a loved one with a mental illness are encouraged to tell the police when they need help if the situation involves someone with a mental illness and to request a CIT-trained officer if the department has one on duty.

Eleven law enforcement and probation officers and other staff completed a week-long Crisis Intervention Team training last month that was sponsored by the Four County ADAMhs Board and NAMI Four County.  Participants and instructors were (front row from left):  Bethany Shirkey, instructor, ADAMhs Board; Officer Bradley Cash, Swanton police department; Justin McCall, chaplain Montpelier police department; Officer Madelyn Griffin, Wauseon police department; Probation Officer Ashley Bowen, Napoleon municipal court; Probation Officer Kelly Tietje, Bryan municipal court; and Drena Teague, CIT coordinator.  Back row from left:  Napoleon Police Chief Dave Mack, instructor; Deputy Tim Dennie and Lt. Clifton Vandemark, Defiance County sheriff department; Sgt. Steven Waxler Jr., Fulton County sheriff department; Randy Luke and Kim Shaffer, Community Hospitals and Wellness Center security officers; and Napoleon police department Detective Jamie Mendez, instructor.  David Riker, superintendent of the Northwest Ohio Juvenile Detention Center, participated in the class but is not pictured.