PEPPERELL — Chief David Scott is pleased to report that two Pepperell Police Officers recently graduated from Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Training held at the Littleton Police Department and sponsored by the Community Outreach Initiative Network (COIN) program.
Officer Dan Adams and Detective John Coburn completed 40 hours of training to learn how to better handle calls involving individuals who suffer from mental health and/or substance misuse disorders and who may be in crisis. The goal of CIT training is to provide better outcomes for these crisis calls.
More information on CIT can be found here: https://www.citinternational.org/Learn-About-CIT
“The Pepperell Police Department has been a regional leader in providing assistance to individuals suffering from mental health and substance use disorders,” Chief Scott said. “As the lead agency in our 10-town Community Outreach Initiative Network (COIN), and the development of local CIT training, we fully understand the importance of handling these calls in a way that addresses the needs of those in crisis while protecting the safety of all involved.”
The training was made possible through a technical assistance grant funded by the Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center (CRI-TAC), a program of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
“The assistance from CRI-TAC that introduced us to trainers Michelle Saunders and Sam Cochran was invaluable in getting this program up and running,” Chief Scott said.
“We are so pleased that they assisted us and now continue to assist us with a train-the-trainer class, so that COIN may continue to provide these classes locally to our member departments.
“The goal is to continue these trainings so that we can train as many officers as possible,” Chief Scott said.
Anyone who is struggling with mental health issues or substance misuse issues – or knows somebody who is – should call COIN at 508-488-5072. Someone will call back within one business day.
About COIN
The Northwest Middlesex County Community Outreach Initiative Network (COIN) is a collaboration among 10 police departments — Pepperell, Ashby, Townsend, Groton, Shirley, Ayer, Boxborough, Dunstable, Westford and Littleton – committed to addressing mental health issues and substance abuse disorders in their communities. Through its partnership with Family Continuity, a local mental health provider, COIN has brought in a mental health clinician to assist the departments with finding help for their residents in need and diverting them from the criminal justice system.
