Maui Police Department’s 19th CIT graduates 

The Maui Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Team welcomed 23 new members to its list of trained personnel during a graduation ceremony on Friday.

The class completed 40 hours of training earlier in the week. Members of the graduating class included: officers and civilians from the Maui Police Department, A Honu Space, Department of the Corporation Counsel, Four Seasons Resorts Maui at Wailea, Grand Wailea Resort & Spa, and Parents and Children Together.

The hands-on training addresses how to interact with individuals potentially suffering from a mental illness or experiencing an emotional crisis.  It focuses on de-escalating a situation before reaching a point of violence or self-harm while ensuring the individuals receive the appropriate response and care they need.

Since the program first launched in 2013, this is the 19th class to complete the program.  The team was the 11th class trained in the state to start since the COVID-19 Pandemic under the guidance of Dr. Alicia Rodriguez, Law Enforcement Clinical Psychologist of Waves of Insight. 

The program was the first of its kind in the state and now consists of 303 individuals ranging in personnel from the Maui Police Department, A Honu Space, Adult Mental Health, Aloha House, Department of the Corporation Counsel, Department of Education, Family Life Center, Grand Wailea Resort & Spa, Hawaii Department of Health, Hawaii State Judiciary, KHAKO, Malama Family Recovery Center, Maui Aids Foundation, Maui Aloha Foundation, Maui Community Correctional Center, Maui Community Mental Health Center, Maui Fire Department, Maui Humane Society, Maui Memorial Medical Center, Maui Police Department’s Multi-Cultural Advisory Counsel, Maui Prosecutor’s Office, Maui Rapid Response, MEO, National Park Service, Paia Youth and Cultural Center, Parent and Children Together (PACT), Project Vision, Roberts Hawaii, Salvation Army, security staff from Fairmont Kea Lani, Four Season Resorts Maui at Wailea, Grand Wailea Resort & Spa, Honua Kai Resort and Spa, Montage, Puamana Community Association and Queen Ka’ahumanu Center, Sherriff’s Office, Teran James Young Foundation, and the County of Maui Department of Transportation.

Guest agencies included instructors and representatives from Aloha House, Bo Mahoe, Child and Adult Mental Health Division, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division, Consumers & Family Panel, Family Life Center, Hawaii State Council on Developmental Disabilities, Maui Aids Foundation, Maui Community Mental Health Center, Maui Memorial Medical Center Emergency Room and Molokini Unit, Maui Police Department – CIT Members, Mental Health America, Nicole Edwards, Parents and Children Together, State of Hawaiʻi Department of Health-Maui District Office, The Queens Medical Center, Tony Lopez, and Waves of Insight.

The CIT training is part of the Maui Police Department’s Critical Outreach and Response through Education unit that works with community agencies on issues that include houseless individuals and those potentially suffering from mental illness.