Law enforcement views CIT program
Training would help officers deal with those suffering from mental illness
When someone with mental illness is in crisis, most times law enforcement is first on the scene.
“The last thing you want to do with an unstable person is put them in the back of a patrol car handcuffed,” said 1st District Judge John Mitchell. “You are protecting the public, but you are doing nothing to deal with the mental health situation.”
Often, the situation can worsen as a result, said Mitchell, who is working with mental health advocates and local law enforcement to create Crisis Intervention Teams in North Idaho.
Under the program, mental health workers spend a week training officers how to recognize and deal with individuals suffering from mental illness. The mental health professionals spend time on patrol with officers, too, to see the problem from the law enforcement perspective.
The effort is being spearheaded by the Bonner County-based Far North chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Michael Woody, a retired police lieutenant from Akron, Ohio, came to North Idaho this week to answer questions on the CIT program, which is active in many states.
Law enforcement agencies from throughout the five northern counties of Idaho sent representatives to the presentation to learn more about the program.
Kootenai County Sheriff Rocky Watson said officers get a bit of training on mental health issues at police academies.
“In my opinion, not enough for what they deal with on the streets,” Watson said.
Watson said from what he’s learned about Crisis Intervention Teams, it sounds like a good idea.
Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Wayne Longo is also supportive.
In 2007, his officers took more than 300 people into protective custody, bringing those individuals to Kootenai Medical Center for their own safety, or to keep others from getting hurt.
The hospital is running out of room, though.
With increasing frequency, officers are having to transport the mentally ill to hospitals in Spokane or as far south as Lewiston because KMC is full.
For small police departments, sending two officers to transport a single person is a huge drain of resources, Longo said, not to mention an expense given the rising cost of gasoline.
Ann Wimberley, president of NAMI Far North, said a coalition is being formed to try and get the CIT program up and running. They have applied for a Community Collaboration Grant to fund the program.
Support has been widespread, Wimberley said.
In many areas of North Idaho, there are no practicing psychiatrists and access to mental health providers is difficult, she said. Outlying counties don’t have mental health Crisis Intervention Teams or programs like Kootenai County’s Mental Health Drug Court, which addresses addiction and mental health issues.
Bringing CIT to North Idaho is the first step toward decriminalizing mental illness, Wimberley said.