Cranston’s Police Department receives roughly 80,000 calls a year and has noticed that additional stressors – such as the pandemic and challenging economic times – have led to a rise of calls related to mental health. At a press conference on March 27, Colonel Michael Winquist, Chief of the Cranston Police Department, announced that the department has increased officer training in mental health awareness with its new Crisis Intervention Team (CIT).

CIT coordinates services between the community and specialized facilities, and the department has partnered with Gateway Mental Health and Comprehensive Community Action Plan (CCAP) to enhance the department's response and follow-up on mental health-related calls. Gateway Mental Health is a LifeSpan affiliate and helps individuals with substance use and mental health disorders. CCAP provides a variety of services designed to assist people in immediate need and empowering individuals desiring to become more self-sufficient. 

The initiative started with all Cranston police officers completing mental health first aid training, which helped them recognize the signs/symptoms of mental illnesses and persons who may be experiencing a mental health crisis; they were also trained in de-escalation techniques and how to interact with persons with mental illness and special populations such as individuals with autism or mental developmental challenges. The department, however, wanted to take their training one step further.

The department looked at data from the calls they received and recognized that they were responding to the same address over and over again. Police analyzed the underlying reasons for the calls and noted that oftentimes, it was a mental health situation, related to substance abuse or dealt with people experiencing tough economic times.

In a mental health crisis, police would take a report and possibly result in an ambulance taking the individual to the emergency room.

“And a few hours later, they were back home in their community with no treatment plan if you

will and we were back at that house multiple times over and over again,” said Winquist.

According to the Department’s March 30 press release, “Many individuals have gone into isolation due to the pandemic, others are unemployed, and drug overdoses and drug-related deaths have spiked. The homeless population has also grown due to increased housing costs, causing many citizens to live outdoors or at shelters such as Harrington Hall. We wanted to do more as a department to understand and address the underlying issue of mental health and explore how we could be part of the solution.”

The department now has eight CIT officers who underwent 40 extra hours of training. Winquist said eight more individuals will be trained by the end of April. CIT uniforms are also different from the traditional police uniform with individuals wearing a polo shirt and pants which can be less intimidating.

Each week, a CIT officer with Gateway and CCAP clinicians respond to residents who have been in crisis or have chronic mental health issues, require substance abuse treatment or are facing essential quality of life challenges and barriers. They perform outreach to ensure that these individuals and their families have the resources they need to improve their situation. CIT officers conduct outreach three times a week – with follow ups on the officers’ free time.

The program is currently being funded through the CARES (Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security) Act. The department is looking to have Senator Whitehouse introduce legislation in Washington to provide future funding and expand the initiative. The department could have gone another route of having calls diverted from police departments and to different social services.

“The Crisis Intervention Team is a beneficial program that coordinates services between the community and specialized facilities that can offer optimum care. As a result of our valued partnerships with Gateway Health and CCAP combined with advanced Officer training, we are fulfilling our goals of safely responding to mental health-related calls with understanding and compassion and connecting our residents with much-needed resources. With a focus on alleviating repetitive calls for service and servicing the community's needs, the program will continue to provide the community with essential services during periods of crisis,” said Winquist.

So far, CIT has had over 100 mental health crisis reports and 50 outreaches.

“In two months times the numbers speak for themselves. There’s a need for this program, a need for this partnership and we hope it continues and hope to secure more grant funding in the future and expand this program. We don't want to let anyone fall through the cracks,” said Captain Justin Dutra.

MaryKate MacHardy, who works as a mobile crisis clinician at Gateway Mental Health talked about the partnership.

“We’re here to say it’s okay to be struggling before it gets to a place where it’s hard to turn back from,” said MacHardy.

Katelyn Bianco, who is part of CCAP’s substance abuse task force, has reached out to 20 residents.

“If we didn't have the ability to actually go out with a police officer after a mental health crisis, these people might not have ever come through the doors of CCAP to get the services,” said Bianco.