Segmented Versus Traditional Crisis Intervention Team Training

There are more than 2,500 Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT) in operation across the country. Results of research on the effectiveness and impact of CIT are mixed. One aspect of CIT training that has yet to be examined is the expert-derived suggestion that 40 consecutive hours of training is an essential element of CIT for law enforcement officers. That is, CIT training is delivered in one 40-hour week, but it is unclear whether the training could be delivered in segments and still achieve its desired outcomes. Segmented training could make CIT more accessible to smaller, particularly rural, law enforcement agencies. Can segmented CIT achieve outcomes similar to those of traditional CIT training? We compared the knowledge and attitudes of 47 police officers who received traditional CIT training and 32 officers who received segmented CIT training. Our findings suggest that segmented CIT training and traditional CIT training produce comparable results regarding officers' knowledge of mental illness and attitudes toward persons with mental illness, providing preliminary support for this adaptation to the delivery of CIT training