The CIT curriculum is a week of intense training provided by volunteer mental health professionals, advocates and seasoned CIT Officers. The training consists of classroom lectures, visits to various mental health facilities and group homes where consumers lead discussions, scenario based de-escalation skills training using role play exercises.

The training is designed to improve officers’ ability to safely intervene, link consumers to mental health services, and divert them from the criminal justice system, when appropriate.

The CIT training includes several blocks of instruction including, but certainly not limited to, introduction of Clinical Issues, Psychotropic Medication and Side Effects, Substance Abuse and Co-occurring Disorders, Distressing Voices Simulation, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Alzheimer’s and Dementia, Legal Issues and Mental Health Law, Family and Consumer Perspectives, and Traumatic Brain Injuries.

Please offer your congratulations to the newest CIT Team members for the Cleveland Police Department:

L-R: Master Patrol Officers Matt Norfleet, Dewaun Massengill, (Ass’t Chief Stacy Smith, pictured with CIT graduates) Erik Jones and Bradley Colbaugh.