Page 77 - 2022 A Year in Review Final

apply a multi-disciplinary approach that includes behavioral health experts,

community partners, and a specialized team of Officers who make up our Crisis

Intervention Team. Eight (8) Officers initially volunteered to join CIT and received 40

hours of specialized training with mental health clinicians from Gateway Mental

Health. We have since expanded the team and now have sixteen (16) trained CIT

Officers. This training included additional de-escalation techniques for crises,

strategies to address mental health in the community, and how to better support

mental health for first responders. With the help of CARES (Coronavirus Aid Relief and

Economic Security) Act grant funding passed by Congress in 2020 and allocated

through the office of Housing and Urban Development via the Community

Development Block Grant, we have expanded this partnership to provide face-to-face

follow-up services to the Cranston community. Representatives from the

Comprehensive Community Action Program (CCAP), a long-standing partner with the

Cranston Police, were recently added to our team with Gateway Mental Health. Each

week, a trained CIT officer with Gateway and CCAP clinicians responds to residents

who have been in crisis or have chronic mental health issues, require substance abuse

treatment, or face fundamental quality-of-life challenges and barriers. Together, we are

performing outreach to ensure that these individuals and their families have the

necessary resources to improve their situation. The Crisis Intervention Team

continues to be a beneficial program that coordinates services between the community

and specialized facilities that can offer optimum care. As a result of our valued

partnerships with Gateway Health and CCAP, combined with advanced Officer

training, we are fulfilling our goals of safely responding to mental health-related calls

with understanding and compassion and connecting our residents with much needed

resources. With a focus on alleviating repetitive calls for service and servicing the

community's needs, the program will continue to provide the community with

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Cranston Police Department Year in Review 2022