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Tallahassee Crisis Intervention Team
Quick Facts:
- Name of coordinating law enforcement agency:
- Tallahassee Police Department
- Approximate number of officers in agency:
- 350
- 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:
- 2008
- Total number of officers in program:
- 38 @ Tallahassee PD
Tallahassee Crisis Intervention Team
Contact:
- Name:
- Chris Summers
- Organization:
- Tallahassee Police Department
- Address:
- 234 E. Seventh Ave.
Tallahassee, FL - Email:
- summersc@talgov.com
- Phone:
- 850-891-4284
Agency Information
- Name of coordinating law enforcement agency:
- Tallahassee Police Department
- Type of government that operates law enforcement agency:
- Township
- Approximate number of officers in agency:
- 350
Specialized Response Description
- Program start year:
- 2008
- 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:
- One year of planning to include CIT training for lead law enforcement instructor, police department approval to launch program, building a local core instruction group networking with NAMI and local stakeholders.
- Total number of officers in program:
- 38 @ Tallahassee PD
- Number of people with mental illness served:
- 51-100
- Catchment area:
- More than one jurisdiction
- Funding source(s):
-
- Police Department
- Private foundation grant funding
- Staff supported by funding:
-
- Law Enforcement Officer
- Program Coordinator
Program Partners and Personnel
- Existence of planning and oversight committee:
- Yes, formerly
- Committee participants:
-
- Law enforcement supervisory-level staff
- Mental health (and/or substance abuse) supervisory-level staff
- Family members of consumers
- Advocates
- Mental health or advocacy agencies that participate in program:
- NAMI
- Written agreement of roles and procedures:
- No
- Recruitment and selection:
- Officers volunteer and some are selected.
- Program coordinator/boundary spanner
- Yes. There are multiple program coordinators
- Kendra Brown 850-577-4438 Court Administrator's office of the Second Judicial Circuit
Training on Mental Health Issues
- Types of training on mental health issues:
-
- Pre-service training for new recruits at the academy
- 20 hours approx
- Advanced in-service training for select patrol officers
- 40 hours
- Number of officers who receive advanced training:
- 51-100
- 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
- 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:
- No
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 in a field encounter form, or other form used to document every citizen encounter
- Record information in an arrest report
- 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:
- if an offier were to query previous calls for service or incident/ offense reports
- 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:
- Yes. It is open 24 hours a day.
- Procedure for streamlined intake and a "no refusal" policy for police referrals?
- No
- Drop-off center accepts people with co-occurring substance abuse disorders:
- Yes
- Length of time for drop-off and return to patrol:
- 11-20 minutes
Program Sustainability
- Data collection:
- No
- Published evaluation:
- No
- Local media coverage:
- City Cable channel broadcast a program about CIT, Print media and broadcast news has covered various aspects of program
- 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.
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