Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)

Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)-trained officers are members of the Police Department with specialized training in de-escalating mental health crises and connecting people to mental health care. To access a CIT officer during a mental health emergency, a person can call 911, disclose there is a mental health crisis, and request that a CIT officer respond to the call.

In Chicago, all CIT-trained officers have attended and successfully completed a 40-hour Basic CIT Training and certification. NAMI Chicago is actively engaged with the CIT program in Chicago, a relationship that began in 2004, during a time when NAMI affiliates across the country were engaging local police departments to build their expertise and response capabilities around mental health.

Today, NAMI Chicago engages in CIT training by providing officers with education about mental health symptoms and conditions, and bringing in individuals with lived mental health experience to reduce stigma and give feedback through telling their personal stories and providing role-play training. We lead ongoing reviews of CIT curriculum to help tailor the training to meet emerging needs, and we also share feedback with the Chicago Police Department around the training and experiences of CIT officers in the field.

Our Work with the Chicago Police Department

Supporting the mental wellness of all members of the community, including police officers, is a core value of NAMI Chicago. Officers regularly experience high-stress and traumatic situations in the line of duty, which can have a severe impact on mental health. Officers who are well, and have resources for their mental health, are more able to safely meet the needs of the community and implement the skills learned in CIT. This has led us to make officer wellness a priority in our work, advocating for systemic change within the Department, and offering support to officers directly.

Maintaining a strong collaboration with the Department allows us to take concrete steps to raise awareness and improve mental health in our city by working closely with officers and leadership on numerous initiatives around training, wellness, and more.

What our Collaboration Looks Like

Providing Resources to Officers

Through our Helpline, NAMI Chicago consults with officers in the field, many of whom we helped train in CIT, as they work to support people experiencing crises. NAMI Chicago also works actively to be a resource for the mental wellness of first responders and their families.

Supporting Policies that Promote Officer Wellness

NAMI Chicago regularly acts as a content expert around mental health and wellness for the Chicago Police Department. We provide policy recommendations through ongoing thought partnership and comments made to the Department on the Consent Decree and other initiatives.

Roll Call Training

The Chicago Police Department has 22 districts and many additional units, all of which work 24 hours a day. NAMI Chicago meets them where they are by visiting roll calls, short 15 minute meetings when officers check in with their supervisors before they start their watch. We use this time to support officer wellness, field the concerns that arise from working intensely in the crisis system, educate on the long term outcomes of trauma, and promote the CIT program. NAMI Chicago also provides roll call training at OEMC to 911 call takers and dispatchers.

Supervisor Training

Since 2019, NAMI Chicago has trained thousands of supervisors in the Chicago Police Department on how provide supportive supervision and how to identify behaviors in staff that may signal a need for additional support. Participants also gain knowledge about cultivating a healthy work environment and are able to reflect on their own leadership styles and how to meet the needs of their teams.

Consulting on Annual Training Reviews

The Chicago Police Department is currently under a Consent Decree which requires them to solicit community feedback from subject matter experts and communities when developing new policies, training and programs. NAMI Chicago takes this obligation seriously and provides ongoing consultation and feedback to enhance the treatment of both the members of the CPD and the community when experiencing grief, trauma, mental health conditions, substance use disorders, or general unrest.