DECATUR – GBI Director Vernon Keenan is proud to announce that the Georgia Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) has been selected by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) as a 2008 IACP Civil Rights Award recipient in the Multi-Agency Team Award category.  The award will be presented at the IACP Annual Conference Banquet on November 12 in San Diego.

The mission of the Georgia Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) is to equip and train Georgia law enforcement officers with the skills to assist people with mental illness and other brain disorders in crisis, thereby advancing public safety and reducing stigma. CIT is a partnership of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association,  the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the GBI and other state and local agencies. It operates through volunteer instructors and a grant from the Georgia Department of Human Resources.

In his letter informing Director Keenan of the award, IACP President Ronald Ruecker wrote, “Since the year 2000, the IACP Civil Rights Committee has been recognizing exemplary law enforcement efforts that are in the forefront of protecting and promoting civil rights. Your efforts embody the highest ideals of law enforcement as an ethical and noble profession that promotes the rights and dignity of all people.” 

Director Keenan said, “This is a great honor for the Georgia Crisis Intervention Team and the State of Georgia, and I am truly grateful for all the hard work that the CIT members have done to make this important program the success that it is.”

CIT is a 40-hour, five day course, which has been approved by the Georgia Peace Officer’s Standards and Training Council.  The training course is comprised of both classroom instruction and practical law enforcement training given by mental health professionals, other content experts, and trained CIT law enforcement instructors.  To date, there are over 2,000 officers statewide trained in CIT.

For more information on the CIT Program, please visit the GBI web site at http://gbi.georgia.gov/cit.

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Contact Information:

John Bankhead - 404-270-8330