Journal article
Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training: A case study of the perceptions of officers, leadership, and CIT trainers in a suburban-rural police department
Journal of criminal justice, Vol.102, 102597
01/2026
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2026.102597
Abstract
Enhancing law enforcement agencies' capacity to respond to individuals in mental health crisis is crucial. Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training is one of the best-known police-based approaches to addressing mental health-related crises in the community. Despite the increasing number of studies on CIT trainings' impact on use of force and other police-level outcomes using administrative and survey data, there is a need for more in-depth studies on different police department (PD) stakeholders' perceptions of these trainings. Our study fills this gap by studying the perceptions of CIT training among CIT-trained officers, patrol supervisors, CIT trainers, and leadership in a suburban-rural county PD in the southeastern USA. Specifically, this study focuses on perceived goals and impacts of CIT trainings, measures of CIT program success, and perceived practical barriers against CIT trainings and implementation of CIT strategies. Our findings demonstrate some key differences in perceptions of CIT goals and impacts across different stakeholders within the study PD and underline the importance of a clear top-to-bottom messaging about the expectations for implementation of CIT strategies. Considering the increasing adoption of CIT trainings and programs across the country, PDs and other agencies that intend to increase the number of officers with CIT training should consider to whom, when, how, and how often these trainings are offered, the potential implications of making these trainings mandatory, and the leadership level messaging around CIT trainings.
•CIT training insights from stakeholders at a suburban-rural police department (PD).•Some key differences in perceptions of CIT goals/impacts across PD stakeholders.•Organizational and officer-level factors can hinder CIT effectiveness.•Clear top-to-bottom messaging about implementation of CIT strategies is crucial.•PDs should consider to whom, when, and how often CIT trainings are offered.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training: A case study of the perceptions of officers, leadership, and CIT trainers in a suburban-rural police department
- Creators
- Yasemin Irvin-Erickson - George Mason UniversitySue-Ming Yang - George Mason UniversityKristen Fite - George Mason UniversityClayton Drummond - Western Carolina UniversityYi-Fang Lu - University of IowaJustin Ramsdell - George Mason University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of criminal justice, Vol.102, 102597
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2026.102597
- ISSN
- 0047-2352
- eISSN
- 1873-6203
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- Grant note
- Bureau of Justice Assistance: 15PBJA-22-GG-00143-BRND
This project was funded by a grant award from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (Award# 15PBJA-22-GG-00143-BRND) . We would like to thank our study police department (PD) , study PD personnel who helped us with our recruitment effforts, and study par-ticipants. We would like to also thank our anonymous peer reviewers and Dr. Eric Beauregard for their feedback on our manuscript.
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/2026
- Academic Unit
- Center for Social Science Innovation; Injury Prevention Research Center
- Record Identifier
- 9985133949702771
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