County of Mecklenburg issued the following announcement on Nov. 22.
Each year, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) recognizes outstanding work by frontline responders to persons in crisis with a serious mental illness in the community. Award recipients are nominated and selected by the CIT committee consisting of community members, mental health agency representatives, and law enforcement leadership.
Mecklenburg County congratulates the 2021 honorees:
Intervention of the Year: Samuel Howard, CMPD, Jack Moran CMPD, Cliff Albanese CMPD, Clinician Alisha Begrin (Community Policing Crisis Response Team- Mobile Crisis)
CIT Team Member of the Year: Dustin Elliott ( Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office ) and Tanya Colon, CIT
CIT Supporter of the Year: Anuvia Prevention & Recovery Center (Anuvia) and Let's Talk About It ...The Autism Center
Judy Reiner Advocate of the Year - Joyce Engelmann, National Alliance on Mental Illness , Dr. Stephen Strzelecki, Mecklenburg County Criminal Justice Services- Forensic Evaluations Unit
Instructor of the Year: Amy Rudisill,Cardinal Innovations and Dr. Andrea Cochran, Teen Health Connection
Leadership Award: Deputy Chief Jim Wilson, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools Police
CIT Officer of the Year: Antwan Green, Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office and Josh Harb, Pineville Police Department
CDCP Officer of the Year: Jody Thomas, CMPD and Lakia Monroe, CMPD
CIT Dispatcher/911 Call Taker of the Year: Jennifer Behre, CMPD
Community Impact Award: Child Development Community and Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools Crisis Prevention & Response Team, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools Police
About the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Crisis Intervention Team
A pre-booking jail diversion program, CIT is a community-based collaboration between law enforcement, mental health agencies, consumers and family members, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)-Charlotte, and Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC).
Law Enforcement Officers are frequently front-line responders to persons in crisis with a serious mental illness. In an effort to better prepare officers to respond to these individuals, a number of communities (more than 500 in the United States) have developed a Crisis Intervention Team program. These initiatives are modeled after the parent program which began in 1988 in Memphis, Tenn.
The Three Components of CIT Programs:
- Intensive training – Police officers and other first responders receive up to 40 hours of training regarding mental illness, co-occurring disorders, and response strategies.
- Strong mental health partnerships – Police and mobile crisis workers who respond to people in crisis seek viable options for linking individuals with mental health treatment in lieu of arrest.
- Significant mental health consumer and family involvement – Consumer and family advocates are integrally involved in the design and implementation of local CIT programs.
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