Twenty-nine officers will begin Crisis Intervention Team Training on Monday at the Rowan Campus of Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. The participants are members of the fifth CIT class and represent law enforcement from all five counties covered by Piedmont Behavioral Healthcare: Rowan, Cabarrus, Davidson, Stanly and Union.

Graduation exercises for officers completing the 40-hour training will be held Jan. 16, at 2 p.m.

Sponsored by Piedmont Behavioral, the training is patterned after the nationally renowned Memphis Tennessee Police Department CIT Program. The CIT Program was first introduced to this area in January 2008 through the collaborative efforts of the Rowan, Cabarrus and Union affiliates of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, RCCC and Piedmont Behavioral.

Four sessions last year graduated 96 officers from agencies including the Rowan, Cabarrus and Davidson sheriffs' departments and the Salisbury, Kannapolis and Concord police departments. The goal for the program is to train 25 percent of all area law enforcement as crisis intervention officers.

The course offers specialized training to law enforcement officers who may respond to mental health crisis situations. It encourages cooperation among law enforcement, mental health professionals and local community agencies to work together to meet the special needs of people experiencing a mental health crisis.

Participating officers earn continuing education credits toward annual law enforcement training requirements. They receive training in understanding mental illness, developmental disabilities, substance abuse, co-occurring disorders, brain theory, personality disorders, post traumatic stress disorder, and the effects of psychotropic medications. The program emphasizes safety first and teaches crisis intervention and verbal de-escalation techniques that reduce the risk of harm to officers and people with mental illness in crisis situations.

During the graduation ceremony, each officer receives a certificate of completion from the Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Criminal Justice Department and a CIT uniform pin which distinguishes the officer as a member of the Crisis Intervention Team within his or her department.

Members of the current class include Police Officer II Jason Fox, Master Police Officer Brent Hall, Police Officer I Chris Hamm and Lt. Karen Barbee, all of the Salisbury Police Department; Lt. Steve Belk and Lt. Milton Davis, Kannapolis Police Department; and Deputy Alesha Poole Mason, Deputy Ted Lister, Deputy Matt Marciano and Deputy Matthew Fisher, Cabarrus Sheriff's Department. Other agencies represented are the Concord, Albemarle, Lexington and Monroe police departments and the Union County Sheriff's Department.

For more information about the CIT program and upcoming classes, contact Shelby Marlow at 704-721-7060 or shelbym@pamh.com.

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