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Crisis Intervention Team comes to Niagara County

Posted at 6:13 PM, May 25, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-25 18:13:09-04

There is newly formed Crisis Intervention Team on the streets in Niagara County. 

The Niagara County Sheriff's Office held a graduation for 26 police officers and Niagara County dispatchers on Friday.
The goal of the state-funded initiative is to reduce the number of arrests made with those living with mental illness and help them get the right treatment services.
"The appropriate way and place to deal with people in a mental health crisis is not in a jail or in through the court system is through services provided in our community," Patrick Weidel, Chief Deputy for the Niagara County Sheriff's Office, said.

The Crisis Intervention Team training is a 40 hour intensive program with both a mental health clinician and a law enforcement instructor. 

The CIT is already in 20 other localities including Niagara Falls and Lockport police departments. The Sheriff's Office is looking to train more law enforcement officials in February. 

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