VIDEO: 20 Graduate with 6th Crisis Intervention Team on Maui
Twenty individuals were added to the Maui Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Team during the program’s sixth graduation ceremony, held on Friday, March 11, 2016 at the Maui Police Department’s Kīhei Station. The week long course was held by the Maui Police Department under the tutelage of Dr. Dara Rampersad.
The team was established in 2013 as the first of its kind in the state, utilizing community partnerships to better respond to critical incidents involving individuals with mental illness.
Along with officers from the Maui Police Department, graduates of the latest class also included personnel from the Federal Park Service, Maui Memorial Medical Center Security, a Maui Medical Center Molokini Nurse, private security, a Community Correctional Center employee, a individual with the Prosecutor’s Office and a Judiciary Judge.
Police say the Crisis Intervention Team program remains a community effort, “bringing both the police and the community together for common goals of safety, understanding, and service to the mentally ill and their families.”
The program includes intensive hands on training addresses response to mental health issues, identification, assistance, referral and follow up.
Representatives from the governor’s office say that they hope the program will help to assist the state in addressing growing issues surrounding homelessness while county authorities say it will prove useful in addressing a growing and diverse population with varying needs.
Attendees that received certificates include the following members of the Maui Police Department: Lt. Jamie Winfrey; Sgt. Lawrence Pagaduan III; Sgt. Kyle Bishaw-Juario; Officer Ryan Cabral; Officer Janae Balag; Officer Bethany Cravalho; Officer Gregory Boteilho; Officer Jared Dudoit; Officer Michael Bocon III; Officer Emiterio Alvarez; Officer Michael Keawekane-Hale; and Officer Coulson Joy.
Community partners that received certificates as part of the newest CIT class include: Judge Kelsey Kawano Second Circuit District Court; Ryan Anderson-Teshima Prosecutor’s Office; Sgt. Nick Manzanillo Maui County Correctional Center; Victoria Van Duzer National Park Service Ranger; Virginia Thiel National Park Service Ranger; George Arcangel Private Security; Renee Friend Maui Memorial Medical Center Molokini Ward Nurse; and Aaron Rivera Maui Memorial Medical Center Molokini Ward Security.
The Maui Police Department also extended thanks to the various instructors and agencies that support the CIT program, ensuring its continued success. Contributing instructors consumers as well as those from Family Panel, Mental Health Kokua, Veterans, and the Maui Memorial Medical Center – Emergency Room/Molokini Unit and the Club House.
A list of contributors is as follows: Dara Rampersad, Ph.D., LPC, NCC Hawaii Psychological Consulting, LLC; Robert Collesano, CSAC Mental Health America; Seth Proctor, RN Maui Memorial Medical Center; Santo Triolo, Ph.D., ABAP Private Practice; Melissa King-Hubert Easter Seals Hawaii; Micheline Dugue, M.D. VA Pacific Islands, Maui CBOC; Adriel Menor, J.D. Maui County Attorney General’s Office; Moana Lutey, J.D. Maui County Corporation Counsel; Julie Patry, LCSW VA Pacific Islands, Maui CBOC; Vanessa Ince, Ph.D. Ince Health and Wellness LLC; Tina Boteilho, MFT Marriage and Family Therapist; John Tomoso, MSW,ACSW,LSW Tri-Isle; Surendar Singh, Sergeant Maui Police Department; James Terry, Sergeant Maui Police Department; Emily Kibby, Officer Maui Police Department; Nichole Comilang, Officer Maui Police Department; and Byron Fujieda Prosecutor’s Office.