CIT TRAINING
MADISON COUNTY, TN - Law Enforcement officers are frequently called upon to respond to crisis
situations, many times involving persons with serious mental illness. Historically, officers who respond to
these calls often lack any specialized training or knowledge in dealing with the mentally ill and their
families.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office is determined to change this. During the week of October 17 – 21,
2022, The MCSO CIT team will be conducting crisis intervention training. This training commonly is
referred to as “CIT”. The CIT, Crisis Intervention Training, consists of 40 hours of training. The CIT
program is a community partnership of law enforcement, mental health and addiction professionals,
individuals who live with mental illness and/or addiction disorders, their families and other advocates. It is
an innovative first-responder model of a police-based crisis intervention training to help persons with
mental disorders and/or addictions access medical treatment rather than place them in the criminal justice
system due to illness related behaviors. It promotes officer safety and the safety of the individual in crisis.
The CIT provides a forum for effective problem solving regarding the interaction between the criminal
justice and mental health care system and creates the context for sustainable change.
Trained CIT Officers are able to interact with crisis situations using de-escalation techniques that improve
the safety of the officer, consumer, and family members. In addition, the law enforcement community is
able to provide care and help to consumers by transporting individuals in need of special treatment to
appropriate facilities. It is also critical that law enforcement participate in the formation of CIT and engage
in all elements of the planning and implementation stages.
Participation from the Consumer and Advocate Community is critical to the success of CIT. This aspect of
CIT brings the program to life by adding insight from those directly affected. This important partnership
should be established early in the planning process and should continue as an ongoing operational
element of CIT.
This partnership is crucial. Which is why we are inviting everyone to join us in celebrating the success of
this program and those whom will be graduating this CIT class. The graduation will be held on Friday,
October 21, 2022 beginning at 2:00 PM. The event will take place at the West Tennessee Training
Center, located at 3178 Denmark-Jackson Road, Denmark, Tennessee 38391. For more information
concerning these classes, please contact Investigator Dillon Wooley at jwooley@mcso-tn.org or Deputy
Tom Grant at mgrant@mcso-tn.org
According to Sheriff Julian Wiser, making sure that our areas first responders have the right training,
practice, and preparations to de-escalate crisis situations safely and effectively is one of the most
essential things that we can do to keep everyone safe. These efforts are a part of Sheriff Wiser’s
commitment to improving emergency response training, and ensuring that those in need of mental health
services are getting the care they need most.
