An Outcome Evaluation of the Memphis Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Training

摘要

The concept of Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training first began in Memphis and has been implemented nationwide as a means of equipping law enforcement officers with specialized skills for resolving crisis and other encounters involving people with mental illness. This study assessed 54 law enforcement officers on the outcome variable knowledge of de-escalation skills to determine the effectiveness of the Memphis Model's CIT program in equipping officers with this skill. Results revealed significantly higher knowledge of de-escalation skills scores for participants in the experimental group (M = 15.66, SD = 2.16) than for participants in the control group (M = 12.24, SD = 3.02), F (l, 52) = 23.32, p < .001, eta2 = .31. Furthermore, follow-up analyses revealed significant differences between police officers' scores before completion of CIT training (i.e., pre-test scores) (M = 12.00, SD = 2.73) in comparison to post-test scores upon completion of training (M = 16.24, SD = 2.72) for participants in two consecutive weeks of CIT training, as well as a non-significant interaction between de-escalation skill scores and time, F(l, 52) = 1.06, p > .05, eta p2 = .02, demonstrating that the training was equally effective for participants in both weeks of training. The results of this study validated the Memphis CIT Training Program as an effective model for improving knowledge of de-escalation skills in law enforcement officers.