CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – In the seven months since the Crisis Intervention Team was created, Clarksville Police said it’s had a big impact on the way they handle mental health crisis calls.

“CIT has been helping resolve situations with persons experiencing mental health crises more favorably on a daily basis,” said Police Lt. Eric Ewing. “Whether it is a CIT officer taking the time to listen to someone, helping someone to feel heard and more understood, or directing them to other resources.”

Members of the CIT have handled duties such as transporting individuals to the hospital to get treatment and coordinating with other responding officers to resolve heated situations.

The CIT isn’t a separate unit, but instead is a group of individuals who are dispersed throughout other CPD units, he said.

“Our CIT officers do not work as a centralized team; instead trained CIT officers are spread throughout the police department in all different shifts in different districts,” Ewing said. “They are a part of the CIT as an extra duty on top of their normal responsibilities. That way, if a mental health crisis-related call comes up, a trained CIT officer can hopefully respond and be on scene relatively quickly to help with the situation.”

Ewing said the training has changed the perception of mental illness for local law enforcement.

“I would say that the development and implementation of the Crisis Intervention Team shows that the Clarksville Police Department is changing our approach to interactions with persons in mental health crises,” he said. “It can no longer be viewed as just a police issue, or mental health service provider issue, but by working together we can serve the community better.”

CPD training

All law enforcement personnel receive training on de-escalation, which is a key component when handling mental health crisis calls. Police Chief David Crockrell said de-escalation training has always been a priority and has been taught to CPD officers since 2009.

“There has always been an emphasis on obtaining voluntary compliance from individuals that are interacting with the police, regardless of the situation,” Crockrell said. “New recruits/rookies are given four hours of de-escalation training after attending the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy and prior to starting the Field Training Officer program.”

Crockrell said officers are required to take 40 hours of in-service training, a stipulation of the Peace Officers Standards Training Commission. “Both state and federal laws require that all force be reasonable and necessary to fulfill lawful objectives,” Crockrell said.

Part of the curriculum is a standard called The Force Continuum. According to www.policetest.info, The Force Continuum is a scale of force alternatives officers learn to handle scenarios they may encounter on the street.

The Force Continuum has six levels of response, and the appropriate response depends on the situation.

“The Force Continuum is not designed to guide the use of force escalation or de-escalation,” Crockrell said. “Situational assessment must occur continually throughout a conflict situation, and officers must adjust any control techniques to effectively respond to increasing or diminishing levels of resistance or threat.”

Lowering use of force

In 2010, not long after the CPD began training on de-escalation techniques, the department became accredited by CALEA, the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.

Every year, CPD must produce a re-accreditation report, which contains statistics on department performance.

  • In 2016, out of 81,770 calls for service, CPD had 578 uses of force (0.70%) and 203 use of force arrests. There were 3 use of force complaints.
  • In 2017, out of 83,684 calls, there were 259 uses of force (0.30%), 175 use of force arrests, and 1 use of force complaint.
  • In 2018, out of 161,525 calls, there were 357 uses of force (0.22%), 133 use of force arrests, and 0 use of force complaints.
  • In 2019, out of 133,593 calls, there were 251 uses of force (0.18%), 216 use of force arrests.

That means CPD has had a steady decrease in uses of force per call, dropping from 0.7% to less than 0.2% in four years.

Sheriff’s Office training

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office also focuses heavily on de-escalation training, said spokesman Lt. Mark J. Wojnarek.

Wojnarek said deputies are taught specific techniques to assist in de-escalation. “Deputies use calm voices and ask questions in non-accusatory language and in generalities to bring calm to the situation,” he said.

Domestic violence calls in particular require solid de-escalation approaches. “Domestic violence investigations are typically more ‘unknown risk,’ meaning they do not know what will transpire from minute-to-minute during encounters and require more than one responding deputy for the safety of all parties including the deputy.”

Wojnarek said MCSO deputies use techniques such as active listening, and clear and direct requests to bring peaceful resolutions.

“We recognize time is often on our side and there is no need to rush a result unless immediate and/or imminent threats to life occurs,” he said.