CRISIS INTERVENTION TRAINING (CIT)

Crisis Intervention Training Student Name Program Name or Degree Name (e.g., Master of Science in Nursing), Walden University COURSE XX: Title of Course Instructor Name Month XX, 202X Crisis Intervention Training Compared to other cities in the United States, the high population density of Los Angeles proves that it is one of the most desirable places in the nation. Nevertheless, police interactions with the public are negatively impacted by inherent law enforcement difficulties in Los Angeles, as they are in several other municipalities nationwide. Balfour et al. (2022) state that law enforcement officers are essential in every community. Los Angeles police officers face the added challenge of dealing with mentally ill persons on top of ensuring public safety and combating criminality. Another factor contributing to the poor treatment of suspected perpetrators with mental illnesses, especially the use of unwarranted and too much force, is the realization that the majority of law enforcement officers do not receive enough training to cope with these types of situations (Balfour et al., 2022). The already tense relationship between the Los Angeles society and the police is made even worse by these encounters. Therefore, adopting crisis intervention training for LAPD officers will assist them in better dealing with persons who have mental disorders, which in turn will increase officer safety, enhance outcomes for those going through psychological crises, and establish good connections within society as a whole. Background Information on Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) Indeed, it is crucial to comprehend the original meaning of Crisis Intervention Training and its historical development and evolution. This will lay a solid groundwork for the rest of the essay's debate and evaluation, which will be much easier to follow and understand. The goal of crisis intervention training is to help police officers better communicate with people who have a mental illness (Balfour et al., 2022). According to Balfour et al. (2022), these initiatives rely significantly on partnerships between mental health professionals, police officers, and those living with and impacted by a psychological disorder and their families. The use and usefulness of this training has increased significantly since more and more police departments are realizing better means of handling emergencies, including reducing the possibility of unjustified use of force. CIT's first model was adopted in Memphis, Tennessee, in the late 1980s. As Balfour et al. (2022) say, the CIT model is also called the Memphis Model. The Memphis Police Department collaborated with community mental health advocates and professionals as it was developing the CIT program. Brown et al. (2023) posit that this initiative was initially intended to give the police officers specialized training on how to appropriately handle people experiencing psychiatric issues. As a result, the number of detentions for these persons dramatically reduced while the outcomes improved. Moreover, the number of police departments in the country adopting the model increased but adjusted it to suit their respective societies. This followed after seeing how successful it was nationally (Brown et al., 2023). Illinois, Ohio, and Texas were among the first states to launch CIT programs in the late 90s and early 2000s (Brown et al., 2023). The importance of reliability and standardization was highlighted to ensure the effectiveness of CIT programs. This was due to the widespread implementation of the programs. In response, more entities especially groups such as NAMI and the International Association of Chiefs of Police partnered to establish standards for CIT regulation. Besides, this was also meant to provide best practices for its execution (Brown et al., 2023). The Effectiveness of CIT Programs Numerous studies have been conducted on CIT programs to ascertain their efficacy. One of these studies includes that Willis et al. (2023) conducted. Nearly 1,000 person...