Fact Sheet #6
Pre-Booking Diversion
Law Enforcement Diversion Programs
Police Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT), Memphis, Tennessee
Population Served: Individuals who come to the attention of law enforcement
who have a major mental illness. Many have a history of violent behavior, co-occurring
substance abuse, a criminal record and past psychiatric hospitalizations.
Program Description: The Memphis Police Department's Crisis Intervention
Team (CIT) is a police-based pre-booking jail diversion program. CIT is composed
of 130 patrol officers from the Memphis force of 1,354. All are volunteers and
all carry identification as to their role in a crisis situation. The officers
cover four overlapping shifts in each precinct. In addition to their regular
patrol duties, CIT officers respond to calls when there is indication of a "mental
disturbance." After arriving on the scene, the CIT officer is the designated
officer in charge.
CIT officers receive 40 hours of training in psychiatric disorders, substance
abuse issues and de-escalation techniques, and in legal issues related to mental
health and substance abuse. They receive empathy training from mentally ill
individuals and have been exposed to the views of family members. They also
have information on community resources for people in a mental health crisis.
CIT officers make an immediate response, usually within five minutes. Teams
are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. About half of all calls are
resolved at the scene with the individual's being referred directly to community-based
services. The program has created a seamless link between law enforcement and
emergency mental health services, providing an efficient single point of entry
into the mental health system. Officers can make referrals or transport an individual
to an emergency service, which accepts all police referrals with no refusals.
Officers are then able to return to duty, usually within 15 minutes.
Costs: $45 per month/per trained officer; $40,000 per year in training
costs.
Funding: Police officers are funded by the police department. Mental health
services are furnished through the local mental health system.
Outcomes: The CIT program has decreased officer-injury rates and reduced
arrests to 2% of the incidents. Individual outcomes are lower arrest rates,
decreased symptoms and increased quality of life.
Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT), San Diego, California
Population Served: Individuals who come to the attention of law enforcement
and are suspected of having a mental illness.
Program Description: Twenty four outreach PERT teams, operating in eight
law enforcement departments in San Diego county, consist of specially trained
police officers and mental health clinicians who respond to calls involving
individuals with a mental illness. The goal is placement in the least restrictive
appropriate environment.
Police officers receive 80 hours of initial training about on-scene assessment,
community-based mental health organizations, available hospitals and payer systems.
PERT is established as a separate entity, with its own board. PERT, Inc. supervises
the staff and coordinates billing. In addition there is a coordinating council
with representation from the police departments and county department of mental
health. Law enforcement supervisors where PERT teams are active also meet regularly
to discuss logistics and operations and an advisory board composed of mental
health stakeholders and two police coordinators provides oversight and accountability.
Funding: Mental health clinicians and the services furnished to individuals
diverted from arrest are funded by state and local mental health system grants.
Additional funding is provided by a community foundation.
Outcomes: In the first two years of operation, PERT handled 3,000 cases,
only one percent of which resulted in incarceration. Other individuals were
assisted through county mental health facilities.
Police Team with Mental Health Expertise, Birmingham, Alabama
Population Served: Individuals who come to the attention of law enforcement
and are suspected of having a mental illness, or via calls involving other social
service issues.
Program Description: For the past 20 years, the Birmingham Police Department
has employed civilian social workers as Community Services Officers (CSOs).
The CSOs assist police officers in mental health emergencies by providing crisis
intervention and some follow-up assistance. CSOs are civilian police employees
with professional training in social work or related fields. They dress in plainclothes,
drive unmarked cars and carry police radios. They are not "sworn"
police officers, do not carry weapons, and do not have the authority of arrest.
Newly hired CSOs participate in a six-week classroom and field training program.
Since April 1993, there have been six CSOs with 921 police officers. CSOs are
based in all four major city police precincts and operate weekdays 8:00 a.m.
to 10:00 p.m. Twenty-four hour coverage is provided by CSOs rotating on-call
duty during weekends, holidays and off-shift hours. In addition to mental health
emergencies, the CSOs attend to various social service types of calls, such
as domestic violence, shelter needs or other requests for general assistance.
In 1997, CSOs answered 2,189 calls, most often calls seeking assistance with
mental health-related situations.
A survey of Birmingham police officers found that more than a third thought
the CSO program was effective in meeting the needs of people with mental illnesses
who were in crisis; half thought the program helped keep individuals out of
jail and maintained community safety.
Cost Benefit: Saved $2,200 per case in reduced jail time and officer
time.
Outcomes: Arrest rates of offenders with mental illnesses were reduced
to 13%.
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