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El Paso Police Department
Crisis Intervention Team
Department Contractors: Partners In Service
in the city and county of El Paso. The CIT Specialists all have, at minimum, a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and many hours of experience working with patients in crisis. The CIT Specialists play a vital role in helping CIT officers. Below are a few of their duties: Emergence Health Network (EHN)
The El Paso Police Crisis Intervention Team continues to strive to provide professional service to members of El Paso community that find themselves in a mental health crisis. El Paso is a melting pot of cultures and people partly because of the close proximity to the border, but also because of the large military population. Both active duty and those that have retired from the military to make El Paso their home. In 2021, the El Paso Police Crisis Intervention Team has responded to thousands of calls for service. Year after year, the officers in the Crisis Intervention Team continue to hone their skills, always seeking to improve their response to those in a mental health crisis. Active listening and a general understanding of mental health symptoms have been key to the success
of our officers and mental health specialists out in the field. In 2021, the Crisis Intervention Team was pleased to learn that a CIT officer, along with a DWI Task force officer, were awarded the prestigious lifesaving award for their actions, which ultimately gave someone a second chance at life. CIT officers were also recognized by the US Army’s Second Armored Brigade Combat Team, First Armored Division for their work and care for the mental and physical well-being of a US Army soldier in a mental health crisis. These awards signify the great work that not only CIT, but all El Paso Police Officers do on a daily basis. The Crisis Intervention Team is committed and will always be committed to helping those in our community in mental health crisis.
Since the inception of the Crisis Intervention Team in 2018, CIT officers have been paired up to work with, and respond to calls for service together with, a mental health specialist. The CIT unit has 14 mental health specialist which are selected by Emergence Health Network (EHN). EHN is the local mental health authority
• Help officers de-escalate situations in the community • Help link citizens in the community to mental health services • EHN Mental Health Specialists are available to assist as a resource to CIT officers, and can provide mental health history about citizens encountered in the field, which can be very helpful to CIT officers in making a determination if emergency intervention is necessary. The co-deployment model used by the El Paso Police Department has been widely accepted by the community. A big part of that is the mental health specialist being able to respond safely along with a police officer to help citizens in crisis. Paso County Jail facilities and other facilities as deemed necessary and requested by EPPD staff, and/or transportation services to pick up prisoners at other locations. In 2021, the AUS team Live Scanned a total of 7,772 individuals and transported 6,555 arrestees.
Dispatched Calls for Service Observed Calls for Service Total Calls for Service
6,153 496 6,649 1,439 436 4,035 298 60
Emergency Detention Orders Processed Mental Health Reports Completed Adult Checks
Juvenile Checks Vehicle Checks
Allied Universal – G4S
that no other large-scale commercial program requires candidates to possess as to the amount of security education and experience. Each candidate must have achieved at least one of the following to qualify: • Military service that included law enforcement or security duties (e.g., military police, elite military forces and combat arms) or support in a combat zone • A minimum of eight or more years of service in any military branch • A Bachelor’s degree in law enforcement or criminal justice • An Associate degree in law enforcement or criminal justice with current or prior active military service • Graduate from a certified Public Safety Academy (military or civilian) or verified work experience in the law enforcement, adult corrections, or firefighter field The main duties of the CPOs are processing and oversight of arrestees while at client premises, transportation and booking of EPPD arrestees into El
Allied Universal (AUS) is the largest provider of armed protective services to government contracts. Their experience includes numerous major armed security programs such as Critical Infrastructure, US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), court systems, and public buildings for city, county, state, and federal jurisdictions. AUS protective services include security, federal law enforcement, fire prevention, transit systems, fare enforcement. The partnership with the El Paso Police Department provides Custody Officer Services. The goal is to harness their vast custody experience and couple it with the best practices from other custody facilities to ensure the most cost efficient and highest quality solution for servicing jail facilities. The Custom Protection Officer (CPO) operating this contract must meet specific requirements. CPOs begin their careers possessing abilities and qualifications
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2021 Annual Report
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