Psychiatric disposition of patients brought in by crisis intervention team police officers.

Background: As part of an effort to improve police interactions with mentally ill citizens, and improve mental health care delivery to subjects in acute distress, the University of Louisville, in conjunction with the Louisville Metro Police, established the crisis intervention team (CIT). CIT is composed of uniformed officers who receive extensive training in crisis intervention and psychiatric issues and who are preferentially called to investigate police calls that may involve a mentally ill individual.

Methods: In an effort to determine the characteristics of the individuals brought to the emergency psychiatric service (EPS) by CIT officers, a comparative (CIT vs.