My Experience with CIT

The past five days I had the honor of participating in Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training with Law Enforcement personnel at the Academy in Cobb County, Georgia. My appreciation for those in law enforcement has always been high, but now I have an even greater understanding of what they go through on a daily basis. More than 48,000 veterans live in Cobb County and many of them live with mental health issues. Knowing that law enforcement is taking great measure to learn all they can about mental illness is an encouragement.

1 in 4 people live with some form of mental illness. In the past the prisons were the logical step for such individuals when they experienced altercations with the law. But today law enforcement seeks to divert individuals with mental illness to community behavioral health centers when possible. The system is not perfect, but the individuals I met this week are doing all they can to do what is best given the resources they have. 

CIT is an initiative of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and law enforcement personnel across the country are encouraged to enroll in the CIT program.  I concur. CIT is a great program and I am thankful for the week of training. My understanding of the subject has increased and will benefit me in the work we do at Armed Forces Mission.   

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