Crisis Intervention Teams Center of Excellence

Mission

We will seek to develop and maintain partnerships with Oregon criminal justice and behavioral health agencies, organizations and service providers in order to develop and maintain a network to criminal justice and behavioral health professionals, behavioral health advocates, and consumers to promote excellence in law enforcement behavioral health training throughout Oregon.

Vision

The Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) – Center for Policing Excellence (CPE) and Greater Oregon Behavioral Health, Inc. (GOBHI) are jointly committed to promoting the development of criminal justice behavioral health training programs, such as Crisis Intervention Teams and other specialized police response models, throughout Oregon. The objective of this partnership is to assist criminal justice and behavioral health agencies in providing a more effective and compassionate response to people experiencing a behavioral health crisis. The joint effort shall be known as the CIT Center of Excellence (CITCOE).

CIT Works

Research has demonstrated that CIT trained officers demonstrate more knowledge about mental health than non CIT trained officers. Additionally, CIT trained officers are more likely to make a mental health referral and less likely to make an arrest than non CIT trained officers.

CIT trained officers who volunteered for the training do better on all these measures than those who were assigned to training, which highlights an important tenet of the Memphis Model to train officers who have volunteered. However, CIT trained officers who were assigned to training do better on all of the measure than those who haven’t been trained in CIT (https://mhttcnetwork.org/centers/southeast-mhttc/problem-criminalization-serious-mental-illness-part-2).

CIT Introduction and Supporting Research Webinar

Mental Health Technology Transfer Center

CIT International – History and introduction to CIT:
Deschutes County CIT Program

News report from Central Oregon Daily News

Autistic Corvallis musician blown away by compassionate police response

Meet the Team

Belinda “Linda” Maddy, LICSW
Belinda “Linda” Maddy, LICSWBehavioral Health Program Coordinator
Linda is a Clinical Social Worker who completed her Masters in Social Work at Portland State University. She joined the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2006 as part of a newly formed Complex Addictions team. In May 2010 she became the Portland VA Medical Center’s first Veteran’s Justice Outreach Coordinator. She has also served as a Veterans Justice Outreach Lead for the VA VISN Region (Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska). Prior to joining the VA, Linda worked in the criminal justice system for 24 years. Linda was an agency loan instructor at DPSST for the Veteran’s Mental Health Basic Police curriculum. In April, 2016, Linda joined the DPSST Center for Policing Excellence as one of two CIT Coordinators with DPSST.
Lieutenant Kevin Rau
Lieutenant Kevin RauBehavioral Health Program Coordinator
Kevin has an extensive background in the criminal justice field. In 1982, he joined the U.S. Army Military Police. After completing two enlistments, Kevin left the Army and joined the Oregon Department of Corrections where he was a Corrections Officer and Correctional Corporal which included an assignment as a Drug Detection Canine Handler. In 1994, Kevin joined the Marion County Sheriff’s Office as a Patrol Deputy. In addition to being a Patrol Deputy, Kevin’s career at the Sheriff’s Office included serving as a School Resource Officer, Public Information Officer, Tactical Negotiator, Agency Training Coordinator, CIT Coordinator and as a member of a multi-agency Crisis Outreach Response Team as well as the lead instructor for the DPSST Basic Police Mental Health and Disabilities curriculum. At the end of 2014, Kevin retired after a career spanning almost 27 years. In November of 2015, Kevin joined the DPSST Center for Policing Excellence as the first of two CIT Coordinators at DPSST.
Ridg Medford
Ridg MedfordCenter of Excellence Coordinator
Ridg has been a certified police officer for over 16 years. He served his entire law enforcement career with the Ontario Police Department and holds his advanced police certification through the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST). During his time with the Police Department, he served in many roles, including school resource officer, motor officer, and detective. He has also served as the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) coordinator for Malheur County. He is a nationally Certified Crisis Intervention Specialist and a juvenile fire setter intervention specialist. Ridg has a passion for teaching and has taught crisis intervention topics at local, regional, and international levels.

Ridg is very community driven and serves or has served on a number of boards, including being the chairman of the board for the Housing Authority of Malheur and Harney Counties. Ridg is a passionate outdoorsman and is often found in the mountains with his family and friends.