Pine Belt law enforcerment officers graduate from CIT training

LAUREL, Miss. (WDAM) - Eleven Pine Belt law enforcement officers graduated from the Crisis Intervention Team training on Friday.

The CIT programs enable law enforcement officers to better serve individuals with mental illness, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

The training is 40 hours of PowerPoint presentations and roleplaying scenarios that simulate events that an officer could face when encountering an individual going through a behavioral crisis.

Two Laurel police officers and five Jones County Sheriff’s officers were among the graduates.

“We’ve been with this for several years now and we continue to send our officers to it,” said Laurel Police Chief Tommy Cox. “We have many officers in our department that are CIT trained and our goal is to be 100%.”

The following officers graduated Friday:

• Investigator Reuben Bishop, Jones County Sheriff’s Office
• Agent David Lewis, 15th Circuit Intervention Court
• Patrolman Robert Cesaro, Picayune Police Department
• Deputy Darren McCraw, Jones County Sheriff’s Office
• Deputy Austin Champagne, Pearl River Sheriff’s Office
• Agent Casey McInnis, 15th Circuit Intervention Court
• Patrolman Tim Daughdrill, Laurel Police Department
• Patrolman Deontae Pickens, Laurel Police Department
• Deputy Denny Graham, Jones County Sheriff’s Office
• Deputy James Smith, Jones County Sheriff’s Office
• Deputy Reagan Smith, Jones County Sheriff’s Office

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