Nine Asheville-area law enforcement officers and juvenile court counselors are now better equipped to respond to people with issues related to mental illness, alcohol or drug use or a developmental disability.
Participants completed Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training from August 1-5 at the Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College (AB Tech) Law Enforcement Training Facility in Woodfin. Graduates were Jason Rice, Tex Mobley and Charles Leatherman with the Veterans Affairs Police Department; court counselors Aldwin Lance and Joseph Drinkwater with the N.C. Division of Juvenile Justice; and Brittany Gartz, Michael Allen, Andrew Barker and Maizul Cobeo with the Asheville Police Department.
CIT in Buncombe County is a partnership involving county government, RHA Health Services, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Western Carolina, the Asheville Police Department, the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, AB Tech and Smoky Mountain MCO. The Asheville Police Department sponsored the August training, and Lt. Don Eberhardt served as law enforcement co-facilitator.
Smoky, a public managed healthcare organization, has trained more than 825 western N.C. officers and first responders in CIT. The training helps participants better communicate with people with issues related to mental illness, alcohol/drug use or developmental disabilities and can increase safety for citizens, officers and first responders, as well as help people get treatment and reduce arrests.
Between 25 and 40 percent of Americans with mental illness will pass through the criminal justice system at some point, according to NAMI. The first CIT program – a collaborative effort among law enforcement, advocates and mental health communities – was established in 1988 in Memphis, Tenn.
Smoky Mountain MCO manages public funds for mental health, substance use disorder and intellectual/ developmental disability services in Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey counties in North Carolina. Access to services is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-849-6127. Visit their website at www.smokymountaincenter.com.