Crisis Intervention Teams in Chicago: Successes on the Ground

Abstract

Police officers encounter a sizable number of calls involving individuals who have mental illness. In response to the challenges that officers face with mental health calls, police departments nationally are implementing specialized response programs. In this article, we present findings from qualitative interviews with police regarding the implementation of a well-known specialized response model, Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT). Researchers employed a grounded dimensional analysis to examine how CIT is utilized in four Chicago police districts. Results indicate that police, irrespective of whether they received CIT training, perceive an array of benefits of CIT implementation in their district. Implications for practice and policy are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Crisis Intervention Teams
• program implementation
• law enforcement
• mental health

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This data was provided by and belongs to the Chicago Police Department. Any further use of this data must be approved by the Chicago Police Department. Points of view or opinions contained within this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the Chicago Police Department. Work was supported by NIMH R34 MH081558. The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIH.