To return to the Local Program Example Database, click here
Denver Police Department Crisis Intervention Team
Quick Facts:
- Name of coordinating law enforcement agency:
- Denver Police Department
- Approximate number of officers in agency:
- 1500
- 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:
- approx 700
Denver Police Department Crisis Intervention Team
Contact:
- Name:
- Leigh Sinclair
- Title:
- Program Administrator
- Organization:
- Denver Police Department
- Address:
- 1331 Cherokee Street, Chief's Office, Denver Police Department
Denver, CO - Email:
- leigh.sinclair@denvergov.org
- Phone:
- 720-913-6161
Agency Information
- Name of coordinating law enforcement agency:
- Denver Police Department
- Type of government that operates law enforcement agency:
- Township
- Approximate number of officers in agency:
- 1500
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:
- Mental health providers, often as members of a mobile crisis team, are called in by law enforcement to provide crisis intervention at the scene.
- Background information:
- program began after fatal shooting, all officers will be trained in CIT, currently haev mentla health therapist hired in department to respond wiht police and provide follow up with citizens
- Total number of officers in program:
- approx 700
- Catchment area:
- The entire jurisdiction
- Funding source(s):
- Police Department
- Staff supported by funding:
-
- Law Enforcement Officer
- MH Service Provider (e.g. case manager, social worker)
- Program Coordinator
Program Partners and Personnel
- Existence of planning and oversight committee:
- No (please proceed to question 17)
- Written agreement of roles and procedures:
- No
- Recruitment and selection:
- Officers are assigned.
- Program coordinator/boundary spanner
- Yes. The program coordinator represents a law enforcement agency
- same
Training on Mental Health Issues
- Types of training on mental health issues:
-
- Pre-service training for new recruits at the academy
- 8
- Basic in-service training for all patrol officers
- 45
- Basic in-service training for dispatchers and / or call takers
- 16
- Advanced in-service training for all patrol officers
- depends
- Number of officers who receive advanced training:
- 201-500
- Groups who conducts advanced training:
-
- Police officers
- Mental health professionals (crisis workers)
- Advanced training topics:
-
- Recognizing symptoms of mental illness, and clinical issues
- De-escalation techniques
- Less lethal use of force options
- Advanced training methods:
-
- Presentations (including panels, lectures, and/or PowerPoints)
- Virtual reality/computerized simulations of mental illness symptoms
Response Procedures
- Standardized dispatch questions:
- Yes
- 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 on a form used only for mental health calls
- Record information in a field encounter form, or other form used to document every citizen encounter
- Record information in log maintained by mental health personnel at the crisis drop-off location or by some other mental health organization
- Use of information on individuals' mental illness stored in police records:
- follow up for resources
- Mental health professional available to support police responder:
- Yes, both on-site and remotely
- 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:
- No. (proceed to question 38)
- Drop-off center accepts people with co-occurring substance abuse disorders:
- Yes
- Length of time for drop-off and return to patrol:
- 21-30 minutes
Program Sustainability
- Data collection:
- Yes
- Published evaluation:
- No
- Local media coverage:
- articles on succes stories
- Legislative funding or support:
- No
- Key to the program's success:
- need to do a better job of data collection
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.