Full Notification

In July of 2015, The Janesville Police Department initiated the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT). We developed the team to aid us in our response to persons experiencing a mental health related event. According to the CDC, nationwide approximately 47 million people will experience a mental illness each year. (1) Law enforcement has the responsibility of being the first responder to many of these issues.

The Janesville CIT program developed the L.E.A.D.E.R. (Law Enforcement Aligned Development Education Resource) philosophy to manage the efforts of this team. This team currently consists of 9 officers, 3 sergeants and 1 lieutenant. The goal is to provide education to law enforcement and community stake holders, align resources as needed, and develop de-escalation tactics along with enforcement plans. The overwhelming goal of the program is to reduce the risk of use of force incidents, reduce the financial impact on the community, and improve community relationships through innovative enforcement strategies.

During the tenure of this program we have reached a few key milestones. First we have altered our response to armed suicidal subjects. This change is supported by several case laws and provides for safer outcomes for the subject involved as well as law enforcement. Second, we have integrated a social worker into police operations. This is provided through collaboration with Rock County Human Services. Third, we developed the Mental Health Awareness Flag. This indicator provides law enforcement with vital information regarding a person’s specific needs. This allows for the officer to adjust and orient their response according to that need.

In 2018 the Janesville Police Department handled more than 75,000 calls for service. Of these calls for service 2,477 were check welfare complaints. These are calls where someone is asking for the police to check on the welfare of a friend or family member. This usually requires some intervention of medical services or the use of a CIT trained officer to help facilitate a solution. These calls usually require two officers and can take several hours to resolve.

We handled 135 emergency detentions over the course of 2018. This means that only 135 of the 75,000 plus calls for service required a detention for mental health related criteria. The remainder of the check welfare complaints were resolved with safety plans and other resources within the community not requiring detention.

An additional 68 calls for service resulted in persons being detained for incapacitation due to alcohol consumption. This requires the person to be admitted to a hospital capable of monitoring their withdrawals from alcohol as those affects wear off. In most of these cases the person are transported to a facility in Madison Wisconsin.
Officers responded to 16 suicides during the course of the year as well. These calls require many different layers of response and follow through, including the investigation and finding support for those affected by the incident.

Much like in years past, members of the CIT team provided training at several different levels. The Mental Health Awareness Flag was presented at the NAMI national conference this past summer. It was also presented along with police response to suicidal subjects at the International Problem Oriented Policing Conference to attendees from all over the world. This team provided more than 200 hours of training to law enforcement, medical staff and other stakeholders.

This team continues to evolve and look for ways to provide for successful outcomes in the community. Currently we meet with law enforcement and stakeholders from all over the county every month to evaluate and improve interactions.

(1)CDC.GOV 2015 report