Trial of Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Mental Health Training for Police Officers

NCT05606289 | Completed

• 3 other identifiers: AAAU8439R01MH1285008378
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 242
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn the effect, or lack thereof, of the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training among police officers. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Whether the 40-hour CIT training improves police officers' verbal crisis de-escalation skills / non-verbal physical behavior
• Whether police officers with and without CIT training use different procedural justice and make different disposition-related decisions Participants will:
• Receive or not receive CIT training depending on whether they are randomized to the intervention group or the control group.
• Participate in three assessments: baseline before the randomization, 3-months post-randomization, and 6-month post-randomization. Researchers will compare police officers who were randomized to the control group with police officers who were randomized to the intervention group to see if receiving the CIT training make differences on the outcome measurements.

Conditions

Officers' Skills and Behaviors

Keywords

Crisis Intervention Team (CIT); Police Officers; Mental Health

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Verbal Crisis De-escalation Skills / Non-Verbal Physical Behavior Rating (3 months)

  Verbal Crisis De-escalation Skills / Non-Verbal Physical Behavior will be assessed via blinded video ratings. The primary outcome is the total score. Domains include: (1) use of reflective statements, (2) use of summarizing/paraphrasing, (3) labelling of emotions, (4) use of encouraging statements, (5) maintaining a conversational tone, (6) seeking clarification from the subject, (7) speaking in a calm and level voice, (8) displaying empathy, (9) displaying honesty, (10) use of simple instructions, (11) asking directly about suicidal ideation, (12) use of space: maintaining appropriate physical distance from the subject, (13) using cover and objects for safety as appropriate, (14) aspects of body language that promote collaboration. Total score ranges from 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating a better outcome.

  3 months

• Verbal Crisis De-escalation Skills / Non-Verbal Physical Behavior Rating (6 months)

  Verbal Crisis De-escalation Skills / Non-Verbal Physical Behavior will be assessed via blinded video ratings. The primary outcome is the total score. Domains include: (1) use of reflective statements, (2) use of summarizing/paraphrasing, (3) labelling of emotions, (4) use of encouraging statements, (5) maintaining a conversational tone, (6) seeking clarification from the subject, (7) speaking in a calm and level voice, (8) displaying empathy, (9) displaying honesty, (10) use of simple instructions, (11) asking directly about suicidal ideation, (12) use of space: maintaining appropriate physical distance from the subject, (13) using cover and objects for safety as appropriate, (14) aspects of body language that promote collaboration. Total score ranges from 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating a better outcome.

  6 months

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Procedural justice

  3 months

• Procedural justice

  6 months

• Disposition-related decision-making

  3 months

• Disposition-related decision-making

  6 months

Study Arms (2)

CIT officers

EXPERIMENTAL

Police officers randomized to the experimental group will receive a 40-hour CIT training curriculum.

Behavioral: Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training

Non-CIT officers

NO INTERVENTION

Police officers randomized to the no-intervention group will not receive the 40-hour CIT training curriculum.

Interventions

Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training BEHAVIORAL

Standard 40-hour CIT training given in one week.

Also known as: CIT mental health training

CIT officers

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• years or older
• English-speaking
• Has not yet taken part in CIT training
• Willing and able to be tested, randomized to CIT training or no training, and re-tested at 3-months and 6-months
• Employment as a police officer from participating site

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Columbia University: lead
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): collaborator
• Wayne State University: collaborator
• University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee: collaborator
• Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc.: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Columbia University in the CIty of New York

New York, New York, 10032, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Behavior; Psychological Well-Being

Interventions

serum P-component

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Personal Satisfaction

Study Officials

• Michael T. Compton, MD, MPH

  Columbia University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: The investigators will blind the rater, who would code the video-recorded outcome behaviors.
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor of Psychiatry

Model Details: Single-blind, parallel-group RCT

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 24, 2022
• First Posted: November 4, 2022
• Study Start: January 1, 2023
• Primary Completion: December 17, 2025
• Study Completion: December 17, 2025
• Last Updated: April 24, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-04

Locations

US (1)