If you know of a situation where a CIT trained professional from any category below – police, fire, dispatch and more – helped individuals stay safe and advocated for the best possible outcome, consider nominating them today. Nominations are accepted year-round with selections being made every spring.
Meet Michael, Jessica, and Isabella – and learn how CIT officers can make an impact!
The CIT model was first developed and implemented in 1988 by the Memphis, Tennessee Police Department. The Team was developed to address the special challenges to law enforcement posed by persons with mental illness and to better serve the community.
Local training is led by StarkMHAR and local law enforcement, and involves area mental health/drug and alcohol service providers, NAMI of Stark County and consumers of mental health/drug and alcohol services and their families. This specialized training has the following goals:
- To better prepare police officers to handle crises involving people with mental illness and substance use disorders
- To increase mental health/substance use consumer safety
- To increase law enforcement officer safety
- To increase the feeling of safety in the general community
- To make the mental health/drug and alcohol system more understandable, accessible and responsive to law enforcement to the greatest extent possible with community resources
- To divert persons with mental illness/substance use disorders to the mental health/substance use system, when appropriate, and not to incarceration
Since 2004, Stark County’s CIT Training program has certified hundreds of officers and first responders. Comprehensive 40-hour courses have been provided three times each calendar year. Law enforcement officers are selected by their Chiefs, Sheriff or their designees to attend this training. Participants should be volunteers and ideally should have good communication and interpersonal skills. The goal for all law enforcement agencies is to have, at a minimum, 25% of their first responders trained.
Past Honorees
2023
Detective Camden Sens, Canton Police Department – CIT Officer of the Year
Robin Holland, NAMI, and Ollie Gholston, Cultural Ally – CIT Champions of the Year
2022
No awards were held.
2021
Deputy Chad Carruthers, Stark County Sheriff’s Office – CIT Officer of the Year
Officer Todd Gillilan, Canton Police Department – CIT Champion of the Year
2020
Officer Kelly Crowl, Louisville Police Department – CIT Officer of the Year
Judge Taryn Heath, Stark County Court of Common Pleas – CIT Champion of the Year
2019
Retired Officer Gibran Baskerville, Canton City Police Department – CIT Officer of the Year
Sergeant Craig M. Riley, Canton City Police Department – CIT Champion of the Year
2018
Deputy Jeffery McCollister, Stark County Sheriff’s Office – CIT Officer of the Year
Sheriff George T. Maier, Stark County Sheriff’s Office – CIT Champion of the Year
For more information about Crisis Intervention Team training, please contact StarkMHAR’s Forensic Coordinator at 330-455-6644.
CIT-trained Law Enforcement Agency Personnel
- Alliance Police Department
- Beach City Police Department
- Brewster Police Department
- Canal Fulton Police Department
- Canton Police Department
- East Canton Police Department
- Hartville Police Department
- Hills & Dales Police Department
- Jackson Twp. Police Department
- Lawrence Twp. Police Department
- Louisville Police Department
- Magnolia Police Department
- Marlboro Twp. Police Department
- Massillon Police Department
- Minerva Police Department
- Navarre Police Department
- North Canton Police Department
- Ohio Highway Patrol (Stark/Summit Post)
- Perry Twp. Police Department
- Stark County Dispatchers
- Stark County Park Rangers
- Stark County Sheriff’s Office
- Uniontown Police Department
- Waynesburg Police Department
- Wilmot Police Department
- Chaplains: Canton Police Department, Stark County Sheriff’s Office
CIT-trained College Campus Security
- Kent State Stark
- Stark State College
- University of Mount Union
- Walsh University
CIT-trained Court/Corrections Personnel
- Canton Municipal Court
- Ohio Adult Parole
- Stark County Adult Probation
CIT-trained Hospital Police and Security
- Aultman Hospital
- Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital
- Heartland Behavioral Health Hospital
CIT-trained Dispatch Centers
- Alliance
- CANCOM
- RED Center
- Stark County Sheriff’s Office
CIT-trained Fire/EMS Departments
- Massillon Fire
- Plain Township Fire and Rescue
- Osnaburg Fire Department