Metro Boston CIT TTAC

History of Metro Boston CIT-TTAC

Knowledge

Figure 1: This graph depicts officer’s self-reported rating before and after CIT training on their knowledge of the following topic areas: mental health diagnoses, signs and symptoms of substance use, psychotic disorders, thought disorders, medications used to treat mental illness and associated side effects as well as many other topics.

In 2010, an incident in the community prompted the Somerville Police Department Chief of Police to consider training needs to better respond to individuals impacted by behavioral health; this lead to our first grant from the Department of Mental Health (DMH) to develop a Jail Diversion Program in July of 2012. We immediately began working on training 100% of the department in Mental Health First Aid. As a result of our efforts we were able to successfully acquire continued funding and became eligible for additional funding. Shortly after, in July of 2013, we became one of two CIT Training and Technical Assistance Centers funded through DMH. Partnering with five law enforcement departments: Malden, Medford, Everett, Cambridge, and Belmont, we were determined to create open and honest dialogue on how to better serve individuals and families in our communities living with behavioral health. In 2015, we expanded our service area to include Boston and a number of Northeast Departments in the Middlesex County. To better represent our growing geographical outreach, we renamed ourselves the Metro Boston Crisis Intervention Team Training and Technical Assistance Center.

Skills

Figure 1: This graph depicts officer’s self-reported rating before and after CIT training on their knowledge of the following topic areas: mental health diagnoses, signs and symptoms of substance use, psychotic disorders, thought disorders, medications used to treat mental illness and associated side effects as well as many other topics.

Today, we are a resource for police departments in the Metro Boston area. These past six years we have worked with approximately 38 departments and trained over 700 officers! Participants who have completed the 40 hour training report an increase in knowledge, skills, and confidence in interacting as well as de-escalating scenarios involving individuals, and their families impacted by behavioral health. Preliminary findings from our CIT Follow Up Survey also indicate that officers are more likely to divert from arrest individuals with mental health or behavioral health symptoms.

Confidence

Figure 3: This graph depicts officer’s self-reported rating before and after CIT training on their confidence in the following situations: emotionally disturbed persons in various settings, domestic violence, suicidal threats, public intoxication and transporting individuals impacted by behavioral health, etc.
 

Diversion Likelihood

Figure 4: Months after completing CIT training, participants from all departments were asked how likely they were to divert from arresting individuals with mental health or behavioral symptoms before and after they had completed CIT training. This graph depicts their answers and shows a clear shift in diversion likelihood.