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Cherokee Crisis Intervention Team
Quick Facts:
- Name of coordinating law enforcement agency:
- Cherokee Sheriff's Office
- Approximate number of officers in agency:
- 330
- Primary specialized response:
- Police officers are trained to provide crisis intervention services and to act as liaisons to the mental health system.
- Program start year:
- 2005 or earlier
- Total number of officers in program:
- 28
Cherokee Crisis Intervention Team
Contact:
- Name:
- J.C. Easterwood
- Title:
- Lieutenant
- Organization:
- Cherokee Sheriff's Office
- Address:
- 498 Chattin Dr
Canton, GA 30115 - Email:
- jceasterwood@cherokeega.com
- Phone:
- 770-529-4221
Agency Information
- Name of coordinating law enforcement agency:
- Cherokee Sheriff's Office
- Type of government that operates law enforcement agency:
- Municipal
- Approximate number of officers in agency:
- 330
Specialized Response Description
- Program start year:
- 2005 or earlier
- Primary specialized response:
- Police officers are trained to provide crisis intervention services and to act as liaisons to the mental health system.
- Secondary specialized response:
- There is only one specialized response program in the jurisdiction.
- Background information:
- A local NAMI member intoduced the concept of CIT to the Sheriff who then decided to explore it further. Cherokee Sheriff's Office was one of the original agencies in Georgia to adopt the CIT model. We approached CIT from the field perspective as well as the jail perspective. Once our original CIT's were trained we started developing the program and using hte training on the streets and the jail.
- Total number of officers in program:
- 28
- Number of people with mental illness served:
- 101-200
- Catchment area:
- The entire jurisdiction
- Funding source(s):
- Sheriff's Department
- Staff supported by funding:
- Law Enforcement Officer
Program Partners and Personnel
- Existence of planning and oversight committee:
- No (please proceed to question 17)
- Mental health or advocacy agencies that participate in program:
- Cherokee Probate Court, Highland Rivers
- Written agreement of roles and procedures:
- No
- Recruitment and selection:
- Officers volunteer and all are selected.
- Program coordinator/boundary spanner
- Yes. The program coordinator represents a law enforcement agency
- Same along with Corporal Charles Westbrook
Training on Mental Health Issues
- Types of training on mental health issues:
-
- Pre-service training for new recruits at the academy
- 4
- Basic in-service training for all patrol officers
- 4
- Basic in-service training for select patrol officers
- 4
- 4
- Advanced in-service training for select patrol officers
- 40
- Number of officers who receive advanced training:
- 1-50
- Groups who conducts advanced training:
-
- Police officers
- Mental health professionals (crisis workers)
- Medical professionals (doctors or nurses)
- Consumers
- Advocates
- Family member of a person with mental illness
- Advanced training topics:
- Recognizing symptoms of mental illness, and clinical issues
- Co-occurring disorders
- Psychiatric medications
- Community resources (mental health services, etc.)
- Legal issues concerning individuals with mental illness
- Legal issues concerning police officer liability
- De-escalation techniques
- Less lethal use of force options
- Suicide prevention
- The role of families and other supports in mental health treatment and recovery
- Advanced training methods:
-
- Presentations (including panels, lectures, and/or PowerPoints)
- Role plays
- Site visits to community mental health facilities
- Videotapes
- Virtual reality/computerized simulations of mental illness symptoms
Response Procedures
- Standardized dispatch questions:
- No
- Dispatch documentation:
- Document in central computer database used for all calls, such as a Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system
- Incident documentation by responding officer:
-
- Relay information to dispatch who records it in general computer database used for all calls, such as a Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system
- Record information in an arrest report
- Use of information on individuals' mental illness stored in police records:
- Court and statistcal purposes only.
- Mental health professional available to support police responder:
- No
- Officers permitted to transport people with mental illness to services when:
- The person has volunteered to receive mental health treatment
- The person is being brought to a hospital for emergency evaluation
- The person is being brought to a crisis center or other health care facility for stabilization or medications management
- Officers allowed to transport a person without handcuffs:
- No
- Access to drop-off locations:
- Local Emergency room
- Procedure for streamlined intake and a "no refusal" policy for police referrals?
- No
- Location of drop-off center(s):
- General hospital emergency room
- Drop-off center accepts people with co-occurring substance abuse disorders:
- Yes
- Length of time for drop-off and return to patrol:
- More than 45 minutes
Program Sustainability
- Data collection:
- No
- Published evaluation:
- No
- Local media coverage:
- A brief story in the local newspaper (The Cherokee Ledger News)
- Legislative funding or support:
- No
- Key to the program's success:
- A means for evaluation is currently in the development process.
About this information:
A program representative provided this information details through a detailed survey.
For more information on the survey, read about our methodology or download a pdf of the full survey.
If you are a representative of a similar program not yet listed in our database, please register and take the survey to contribute your information.