For Immediate Release

Contact: Katie Glass, Executive Director of Marketing/Public Information Officer
Phone: 608.822.2411
Mail: 1800 Bronson Blvd., Fennimore, WI 53809
Date of Release: November 14, 2016

Southwest Tech Hosts First Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Training

Crisis Intervention Training creates better first-responders in Southwest Wisconsin

Fennimore, WI -

From November 7 to 10, 2016 on the Southwest Tech campus, a group of law enforcement professionals attended a 40-hour Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training.  The training was put on by Southwest Tech’s Public Safety Department, in collaboration with Holly Knapp from Unified Community Services in Grant and Iowa County.  This training was made possible because of a portion of a grant for which Knapp applied.  Originally she had hoped to secure funding to send local law enforcement to training in the state, but when she learned that we could develop our own she sought to collaborate with Southwest Tech.

CIT training is specialized to help police officers who respond to a call involving someone with mental illness or developmental disabilities.  The success of CIT training is that it helps bolster connections between police, health care, mental health and advocacy agencies. By hosting the training at Southwest Tech it is tailored to our specific community needs and creates more awareness of our local resources. Twenty seats were available for this class, and it filled weeks before the registration deadline.

Training will continue to be offered to local law enforcement professionals through Southwest Tech and Unified Community Services in Spring 2017. For details contact Southwest Tech Public Safety, 608.822.2706.