About CIT

In 1988, Memphis, Tennessee introduced the first Crisis Intervention Team as a vital component to the community's demand for safer first responder crisis services. Since that time the CIT movement has grown to encompass more than 600 communities nationwide.

The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program is a community partnership of law enforcement, mental health and addiction professionals, individuals who live with a mental illness and/or addiction disorders, their families, and other advocates. It is an innovative first-responder model of police-based crisis intervention training to help persons with mental disorders and/or addictions access medical treatment rather than place them in the criminal justice system due to illness-related behaviors. It also promotes officer safety and the safety of the individual in crisis.

CIT is a program that provides the foundation necessary to promote community and statewide solutions to assist individuals with a mental illness and/or addictions. The CIT Model reduces both stigma and the need for further involvement with the criminal justice system. CIT provides a forum for effective problem solving regarding the interaction between the criminal justice and mental health care system and creates the context for sustainable change.

Research shows communities that utilize the CIT model have higher success rates in resolving serious crisis situations. For more information, check out CIT International.

Crisis Intervention Teams have been established in several counties throughout the State of Kansas.