CIT Class of 2018

Portage County police officers received Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training to help them handle incidents involving people experiencing mental distress. The CIT program trains officers to manage crisis situations for the safety of everyone involved and to learn about mental illness and substance use disorders. Communication and de-escalation techniques, serious emotional problems in children, dual-diagnosis of mental illness and alcohol and drug addiction, alternatives to jail, information about local service providers, are all part of the 40-hour classroom and hands-on CIT training. Every police department in the county and the Portage County Sheriff’s Department have staff trained through CIT. The program is sponsored nationally by the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

2018 CIT Class

Bottom row, left to right: Ofc Brian Michaels, Heartland Behavioral Healthcare Ofc Tony Tritto, Aurora Police Ptl Thomas Moran, Ravenna Police Sergeant David Firtik, Ravenna Police Ofc Nathan Hoxworth, KSU Police Haley Otto, Streetsboro Police Dispatcher Ofc Terrance Duncan, KSU Police Ofc Justin May, KSU Police Ofc Joe Braskie, Mogadore Police Top row, left to right: Ofc Trevor White, KSU Police Ptl Robert Putnam, Brimfield Police Ptl Jerry Dumont, Brimfield Ofc Luke Nelson, Streetsboro Ptl Neal Hilbruner, Kent Police Ptl Mike Carnahan, Kent Police Micah Cheshire, Akron Children’s Ptl Cris Coy, Ravenna Police Ronald Dixon, Kent State Police Sheriff David Doak John Garrity, PhD