Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training: A case study of the perceptions of officers, leadership, and CIT trainers in a suburban-rural police department

Enhancing law enforcement agencies' capacity to respond to individuals in mental health crisis is crucial. Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training is one of the best-known police-based approaches to addressing mental health-related crises in the community. Despite the increasing number of studies on CIT trainings' impact on use of force and other police-level outcomes using administrative and survey data, there is a need for more in-depth studies on different police department (PD) stakeholders' perceptions of these trainings. Our study fills this gap by studying the perceptions of CIT training among CIT-trained officers, patrol supervisors, CIT trainers, and leadership in a suburban-rural county PD in the southeastern USA. Specifically, this study focuses on perceived goals and impacts of CIT trainings, measures of CIT program success, and perceived practical barriers against CIT trainings and implementation of CIT strategies. Our findings demonstrate some key differences in perceptions of CIT goals and impacts across different stakeholders within the study PD and underline the importance of a clear top-to-bottom messaging about the expectations for implementation of CIT strategies. Considering the increasing adoption of CIT trainings and programs across the country, PDs and other agencies that intend to increase the number of officers with CIT training should consider to whom, when, how, and how often these trainings are offered, the potential implications of making these trainings mandatory, and the leadership level messaging around CIT trainings. • CIT training insights from stakeholders at a suburban-rural police department (PD). • Some key differences in perceptions of CIT goals/impacts across PD stakeholders. • Organizational and officer-level factors can hinder CIT effectiveness. • Clear top-to-bottom messaging about implementation of CIT strategies is crucial. • PDs should consider to whom, when, and how often CIT trainings are offered.