City of OKC

Recommendation No. 9:

OKCPD and the City Council should consider increasing the budgeted numbers of CIT-trained officers based on the frequency of calls that require this response.

The OKCPD and the City Council should consider increasing the budgeted numbers of officers trained in CIT based on the frequency of calls for service that require that form of response.

Project Status: 90% Implemented

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Project Details from Consultant Report

There was a lot of discussion at the Task Force and Working Group about the number of fully trained CIT officers available to the Department and how they are deployed within the districts. While all officers receive 24 hours of mental health training with two-hour annual refresher training, the 40-hour class is more specialized and comprehensive. Some were concerned about the “premium pay” associated with CIT officers and there was discussion about the current 158 authorized CIT positions (not all of which are filled).

In presentations, OKCPD noted that CIT International recommends 20-25% of the department be CIT officers; however, in follow-up discussions, OKCPD clarified that this was a floor, not a ceiling, and that having more CIT officers could only benefit the department and the community. There was acknowledgement from some stakeholders that forcing unwilling officers to become CIT officers would be counterproductive (although others noted that officers unwilling to pursue this skill may not be appropriate officers for the 21st Century). However, there were some that argued that all who want to be CIT officers should have the opportunity. Ultimately, the most-voiced resistance to training additional officers was budgetary as current union agreements provide premium pay for CIT officers.

21CP agrees that training would increase public safety and de-escalation through appropriate law enforcement mental health response to those in crisis. Additionally, while there are other recommendations regarding alternative response to mental health calls, until those responses are scaled, it is likely that a police response will be the default until such time as comprehensive 24/7 alternative responses can be created. Moreover, we are unaware of any alternative response model that sends civilians to potentially or actually violent incidents – not training the police can only lead to less sophisticated responses in the most violent cases. As for the budget consequences, we think the money is well-spent in this space.

Finally, in the community survey, ninety-four percent of people who responded were supportive of this recommendation. The racial breakdown of support was Black/African American (95%); Native American/Alaskan Native (90%); Asian (93%); White (89%); Latinx (91%); and Other (90%).