Minneapolis Crisis Intervention Team

Quick Facts:

Name of coordinating law enforcement agency:
Minneapolis Police Department
Approximate number of officers in agency:
800
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:
120

Minneapolis Crisis Intervention Team

Contact:

Name:
Sgt. Steve Wickelgren
Title:
Sgt./CIT Supervisor
Organization:
Minneapolis Police Department
Address:
314 Clifton Ave Suite 200
Minneapolis, MN
Email:
steven.wickelgren@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Phone:
612 879-0712

Agency Information

Name of coordinating law enforcement agency:
Minneapolis Police Department
Type of government that operates law enforcement agency:
Township
Approximate number of officers in agency:
800

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:
The CIT program for Minneapolis PD began after two of our officers shot and killed a woman with a knife who was in a mental health crisis. With the help of the MH advocates, representatives of the MPD went to Memphis to learn their CIT program and incorporated it within 2 years.
Total number of officers in program:
120
Catchment area:
The entire jurisdiction
Funding source(s):
  • Police Department
  • Federal grant funds
    • Staff supported by funding:
  • Law Enforcement Officer

    • Program Partners and Personnel

    Existence of planning and oversight committee:
    Yes, currently
    Committee participants:
  • Law enforcement line-level staff
  • Law enforcement supervisory-level staff
  • Mental health (and/or substance abuse) line-level staff
  • Advocates
    • Mental health or advocacy agencies that participate in program:
    Barbara Schneider Foundation
    Written agreement of roles and procedures:
    No
    Recruitment and selection:
    Officers volunteer and some are selected.
    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
  • 4
  • Basic in-service training for dispatchers and / or call takers
  • 4
  • Advanced in-service training for select patrol officers
  • 40
    • Number of officers who receive advanced training:
    101-200
    Groups who conducts advanced training:
  • Police officers
  • Mental health professionals (crisis workers)
  • Medical professionals (doctors or nurses)
  • Consumers
  • Community members
  • 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 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
    • Other information on training:
    The Minneapolis PD CIT program has recently (2006) started providing training, along with the Barbara Schneider Foundation, to other agencies throughout the state of MN.

    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 on a form used only for mental health calls
  • Record information in an arrest report
    • Use of information on individuals' mental illness stored in police records:
    To track repeated contacts with individuals. To assess the percentage of subjects taken to hospitals, transportation holds signed, force used, arests made, etc.
    Mental health professional available to support police responder:
  • Yes, remotely by telephone or dispatch (e.g. a crisis worker or psychiatric emergency room personnel)
    • 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:
    Handcuffing is advised but discretionary. Only mandated when entering a jail facility.
    Access to drop-off locations:
    Yes. It is open 24 hours a day.
    Procedure for streamlined intake and a "no refusal" policy for police referrals?
    Yes
    Location of drop-off center(s):
  • Psychiatric emergency / crisis center
    • Drop-off center accepts people with co-occurring substance abuse disorders:
    Yes
    Length of time for drop-off and return to patrol:
    0-10 minutes

    Program Sustainability

    Data collection:
    No
    Published evaluation:
    No
    Local media coverage:
    Star Tribune newspaper and TV media covered our CIT program when it was initially started.
    Legislative funding or support:
    No
    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.

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