First Crisis Intervention Team class. (CREDIT: Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office Facebook page)

The Kane County State’s Attorney has completed its first Crisis Intervention Team training for police officers. The specialized training provides officers with tools to better respond when a subject is having a mental health crisis.

The 40-hour training took place Oct. 16-20 with 26 officers from 13 police agencies – Aurora, Batavia, Carpentersville, Elgin, Geneva, Illinois State Police, Kane County Sheriff’s Office, North Aurora, St. Charles, Sleepy Hollow, Sugar Grove, Wayne and West Dundee.

The training was held in conjunction with the Kane County Sheriff’s Office and took place at the Sheriff’s Office. It was presented with the assistance of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board.

National CIT training curriculum was developed by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the University of Memphis CIT Center, CIT International and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. NAMI states that CIT training, “teaches a new set of skills … the words, approach and body language that convince a person to get help, or defuse a potentially violent encounter.”

Presenters included psychologists, social workers, former police officers and assistant state’s attorneys.

The Kane County SAO expects to conduct a second training in 2017, and has a larger goal of four additional training sessions in 2018.

Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said CIT training is important for the overall health of a community.

“This training not only could save the life of a person in crisis, it also could save the officer’s own life,” he said.