Anne Arundel Crisis Intervention Team awarded highest certification for response efforts

BALTIMORE -- The Anne Arundel County Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) was awarded a platinum certification, the highest certification level through CIT International. 

A CIT program is a community partnership between law enforcement and behavioral healthcare professionals aimed at improving community response to behavioral health crises. 

"They are exhibiting the highest degree of best practices," said Bart Oates, Executive Director of CIT International.

Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal Awad said the CIT unit has been fully integrated into the county's crisis response system since 2014, and now more and more officers are volunteering to become CIT certified.

"Our officers essentially work hand-in-hand with licensed clinicians to help our community members," Awad said.

Lt. Steven Thomas, the Crisis Intervention Team coordinator in Anne Arundel County, said the true reward is saving lives.

"We see the appreciation that they have," Thomas said. "We see it when we're sending people to treatment instead of jail."

CIT at work

When high school teacher Melissa Owens experienced a mental health crisis brought on by her bipolar disorder in 2017, the Anne Arundel County Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) came to her aide.

"I went through a very difficult two months where I experienced a lot of symptoms of psychosis, and so CIT, with the calls from my neighbors and my friends and my family, continued to respond to me at my home, de-escalating me, assessing me all of those things, stabilizing me, making sure I was safe," Owens said.

The CIT unit, made up of law enforcement and behavioral health professionals, calmed Owens down to get her the mental health care she needed at a hospital.

"Not only did they oversee my care there, but even on the way out, they kind of served as a transition back into the community, making sure I was stabilized," Owens said. "They were able to make all the difference."