Police in township to be paid for crisis training
By Dana Casadei
Bloomfield Township police will soon be reimbursed for attending Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training thanks to the unanimous support of township trustees at their Monday, August 14, meeting.
The CIT training is through the Oakland Community Health Network (OCHN), which has been partnered with the township and about a dozen other police departments in Oakland County for years now. The memorandum of understanding between the township and OCHN would establish a partnership between OCHN and each participating agency, and was created pursuant to the Michigan Mental Health Code.
This memorandum will not only also reimburse other participating agencies – such as Clawson Police Department, Novi Police Department, and Oakland County Sheriff’s Department, among others – but those who go on to do the CIT certification to become CIT trainers themselves.
The Bloomfield Township Police Department already has one member of their staff who completed the CIT training, sergeant April Switala, with hopes for more to follow. Switala is now able to partner with different agencies in training and become a facilitator of the CIT program.
One of the goals of this type of program, which really started with their co-responder and mental health program, is to have all of the officers from the participating agencies become crisis and intervention trained.
“We’re well on our way there,” said police chief James Gallagher.
Within the memorandum, $100,000 of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) fund will be allocated for officers and deputies to be reimbursed. This would include up to $1,000 per officer/deputy who attends and completes the 40-hour CIT training program through OCHN and the CIT Oakland Collaborative, and $2,000 per week for CIT Oakland Instructors.
An additional $80,000 of the same fund will be allocated to be reimbursed for CIT International - CIT Coordinator Certification Virtual training, CIT Curriculum Train the Trainer: CIT International, and CIT Program Certification for both regional and agency certification.
This memorandum will last through January 2024, or until all funds are dispersed.
The OCHN was awarded funding from the ARPA to provide CIT training and program development assistance to local law enforcement agencies throughout Oakland County in 2023.
