NAPD Officers Clayton and Pannell trained for Crisis Intervention

Two New Albany Police Department (NAPD) officers have completed intensive Crisis Intervention Training (CIT).

Corporal Brandon Clayton and Corporal Brandon Pannell trained for 40 hours last week at the North Mississippi Law Enforcement Training Center in Tupelo.

NAPD Corporal Brandon Clayton

Corporal Clayton said police officers are often the first people who respond when someone in the community is experiencing a mental health crisis. “I have been interested in this facet of law enforcement for a long time,” he said. “This is a major issue in our mental health system.”

Clayton and Pannell are the first two law enforcement officers in Union County to have received Crisis Intervention Training.

CIT is a program initiated by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The training was developed specifically for law enforcement officers.

Whether the crisis is an episode of schizophrenia, an Alzheimer’s patient wandered away from home, a drug-induced psychosis, or a threatened suicide, CIT training puts police officers in a better position to respond effectively.

“I love having this extra tool on our belt,” said Clayton.