More than 100 members of crisis intervention teams (CIT) from around Oregon are attending the 2018 Oregon Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Summit being hosted at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem.
This two-day event, sponsored by the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) and Greater Oregon Behavioral Health, Inc., is offering a number of training classes and networking opportunities for attendees who include Oregon CIT Coordinators, CIT instructors, mental health advocates involved with CIT in Oregon, criminal justice and mental health professionals involved with CIT in Oregon. The conference is funded thanks to a grant from the Oregon Health Authority.
Feature presentations, by a field of distinguished subject matter experts, include, Suicide by Cop, Officer Self Care, CIT Data Collection, agency response models, Mental Health Legal Processes, Use of Force and liability issues as they relate to crisis response, and others.
Maria Pos, MHFA Project Coordinator, with the Association of Community Mental Health Programs
said "Individuals experiencing mental illness and substance use disorders often have more contact with the criminal justice system than the general population. Approximately 10% of police calls involve a person with mental illness, making police often the nation's first responders to mental health crises. Therefore, the better prepared officers and staff are to respond effectively and appropriately, the more likely the interaction will be positive. It is also important to note that taken on a broader category, individuals with mental illness are more likely to be a victim of a crime than perpetrators of crimes, and with appropriate training situations involving mental illness can be deescalated. In addition to creating more ways to keep the public safe, more focus also needs to be on addressing the needs of police and corrections officers. The number 1 killer of police officers is suicide. Officer suicide rates are 1.5 times that of the general population in the United States. Approximately every 48?72 hours a police officer takes his/her own life (an average of 125?150 per year). Given these significant links between public safety and mental health, there is a critical need for more law enforcement officers, correction offices, and all public safety staff to have mental health training."
DPSST's Director Eriks Gabliks shared "responding to people in crisis is an important issue that public safety personnel around the state are addressing in partnership with public and non-profit resources around the state. Equally important is making sure we are also taking care of the mental health of our state's first responders. Three years ago a handful of CIT teams existed in Oregon and now there are more than two dozen with more being formed every day. DPSST has bolstered the training newly hired officers receive at the Academy and also have trained thousands of seasoned officers around the state through regional training classes."
## Background Information on the DPSST ##
The Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) operates the Oregon Public Safety Academy which spans more than 235 acres in Salem. The Academy is nationally recognized for its innovative training programs and active stakeholder involvement. Eriks Gabliks serves as the Director, and Sheriff Jason Myers of the Marion County Sheriff's Office serves as the Chair of the Board. The department implements minimum standards established by the Board for the training and certification of more than 40,000 city, tribal, county and state law enforcement officers, corrections officers, parole and probation officers, fire service personnel, telecommunicators, emergency medical dispatchers and private security providers.
DPSST provides training to more than 25,000 students each year throughout Oregon and at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem: certifies qualified officers at various levels from basic through executive; certifies qualified instructors; and reviews and accredits training programs throughout the state based on standards established by the Board.