Yale Police Department participates in Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training

The Yale Police Department (YPD) is committed to ensuring that all its officers are highly trained in crisis intervention. Recently, several YPD officers participated in the virtual 2020 Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program. CIT is a community partnership of law enforcement, mental health, and addiction professionals. It is an innovative first-responder model of police-based crisis intervention training focused on helping individuals with mental disorders and/or addictions get access to medical treatment rather than place them in the criminal justice system. It promotes officer safety and the safety of the individual in crisis.

The national model for CIT, the Memphis model, suggests that police departments need 20 - 25% of their sworn personnel be CIT trained to ensure coverage on all shifts. Currently, 100% of YPD officers have completed initial CIT training and all will continue to participate in on-going training. YPD Officer Rich Simons and his therapy dog Vance, and Officer and YPD Chaplin Ariel Melendez recently participated in additional CIT training during the virtual CIT International Conference.