In 1997, I completed my formal training at the Tennessee Academy of Law Enforcement in Donelson- Tennessee. A year later, I completed my training in Crisis Intervention with the department of Memphis Police. The training entailed handling people with disorders of substance abuse and mental illness. As a Crisis intervention Officer, my duties were to identify individuals with drug abuse problems or disorders, such as schizophrenia and assist them to get the required appropriate treatment before they caused harm to themselves or others. Given the sensitivity of this matter, I worked directly with hospitals and facilities dealing with mental health issues. My assigned duty was to prevent suicide and hostage negotiation. This discussion explores my personal working experience with individuals in need, like those experiencing problems of mental health. The discussion also provides an overview of schizophrenia and other mental health complications.
Overview of Crisis Intervention Team
A Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) is a working community involving partnership with family members and consumers of mental health services. The goal of the program is to set an excellent standard for the officers in relation to treating mentally ill individuals. This is attained through instituting individual responsibility for every occurrence and the results’ overall accountability. The officers are accorded the best available training quality and become part of a team specialized to respond at any time to a crisis. The teams work in unison with the community to resolve every situation in a way that demonstrates concern for the well being of the citizen. In 1988, the department of Memphis Police collaborated with the providers of mental health, two universities (University of Tennessee and University of Memphis) and National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) – Memphis Chapter (Dattilio & Freeman, 2007).
The partnership was to train, implement, and organize a specialized unit. The purpose of this creative and unique alliance was to develop a more understandable, intelligent, and safe approach to the event of mental crisis. The genesis of the CIT in the department of Memphis Police was through this community effort. From every Uniform Patrol Precinct, volunteer officers exist in the CIT and are ready during crisis calls to handle complex issues related to mental illness. CIT officers also work as patrol officers in their regular performance of their duty assignment. The CIT officers undergo specialized instructional training under the supervision of family advocates, consumer groups of mental health, and providers of mental health (Dattilio & Freeman, 2007). The training instills confidence to CIT officers to offer a more humane and calm approach, while maintaining 24-7 coverage. Continue reading Psychology in Routine Law Enforcement Duties Essay