Page 20 - Middletown Magazine Issue 3 Autumn 2023

CIT
CIT

Crisis Intervention Team by Lee Godburn

What the heck has happened to people since Covid? Health. As much as officers are trained well in han-
A question I hear on the lips of people nationally, dling situations of crisis, their immediate objective is
statewide, locally and even at dinner tables. Wheth- to de-escalate extremes and restore a safe environ-
er it’s a direct effect of the Virus, a result of our life- ment. Often there is more follow through that could
style change during the Virus or simply a rise in public be provided that would reach outside the officer’s ex-
anxiety period, it exists. One cannot open a paper, a pected duty. That is when CIT would take over to pro-
news screen or watch a news program without some- vide more services to the situation in hopes of a long
thing competing for a headline that makes us question term resolution. As of September CIT will have two full
the wellbeing of someone involved in that story. The time licensed social workers embedded into the Mid-
problem is far too vast and intricately varied to call dletown Police Force. Some of the goals of CIT and
upon a ready solution. This is the point where I give current officer training is to immediately respond to
up my dinner table world problem solving and look to people in crisis, use a de-escalation procedure, pre-
my elected officials actions, nationally and locally, in vent use of force, eliminate repeat calls, provide true
hopes that they have also recognized the problem necessary services and eliminate public nuisance.
and have taken some action. Here in Middletown Ct.
A patent answer to cure the national dilemmas of sub-
stance abuse, suicide, violence, homelessness, and
mental health is of course impossible due to the fact
that even though they may be categorized, each indi-
vidual making up that group is unique, so their “cure”
will be unique as well. Thankfully here in Middletown
we have elected officials who are wise enough to im-
plement programs in conjunction with our communi-
ty based law enforcement and state approved crisis
management services that can reach out, even in-
dividually, to those in crisis. Creating a safer, more
secure environment for everyone in our community.
A special thank you to Mayor Florsheim, Chief Cos-
River Valley Services (RVS)
Leak Hall, Silver Street, PO Box 351, Middletown, CT 06457 ta and Sarah Gadsby for not only helping me under-
stand how CIT works but for pioneering this program
I was equally relieved and interested in the fact that for community wellness.
our state government has already teamed up with our
local government in creating a program that will hu-
manely help to identify and de-escalate situations and For more information:
individuals of immediate crisis with the potential of that If you feel you are in need of immediate help call - 911
intervention preventing more catastrophic future crisis 24/7 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline – 988
as a byproduct. The program is called CIT, Crisis In-
tervention Team, a direct collaboration between the RVS mobile crisis unit – 860-344- 2100
Middletown Police and River Valley Services, (RVS), Gilead MHRC – 860-530-HELP (4357)
a division of the Connecticut Department of Mental

20 Middletown Magazine - Autumn Issue 2023