Officers' Skills and BehaviorsNCT05606289
Trial of Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Mental Health Training for Police Officers
A study testing Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training in people with Officers' Skills and Behaviors, run by Columbia University at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn the effect, or lack thereof, of the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training among police officers. The main questions it aims to answer are: Whether the 40-hour CIT training improves police officers' verbal crisis de-escalation skills / non-verbal physical behavior Whether… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Officers' Skills and Behaviors
- What is being tested?
- Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 242 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 1 Jan 2023to 31 Dec 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- 18 years or older
- English-speaking
- Has not yet taken part in CIT training
- Willing and able to be tested, randomized to CIT training or no training, and re-tested at 3-months and 6-months
- Employment as a police officer from participating site
Who cannot join
- -
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
Columbia University in the CIty of New York
New York, New York, 10032
About this study
Official title: A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Mental Health Training for Police Officers
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn the effect, or lack thereof, of the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training among police officers. The main questions it aims to answer are:
- Whether the 40-hour CIT training improves police officers' verbal crisis de-escalation skills / non-verbal physical behavior
- Whether police officers with and without CIT training use different procedural justice and make different disposition-related decisions
Read more
Participants will:
- Receive or not receive CIT training depending on whether they are randomized to the intervention group or the control group.
- Participate in three assessments: baseline before the randomization, 3-months post-randomization, and 6-month post-randomization.
Researchers will compare police officers who were randomized to the control group with police officers who were randomized to the intervention group to see if receiving the CIT training make differences on the outcome measurements.
Read the detailed description
Individuals with serious mental illnesses (SMI), as well as those experiencing suicidality or psychiatric crisis encounter police officers frequently in the community. Almost a third of people with SMI have police involved in their pathway to mental health care. Although a variety of strategies to reduce law enforcement involvement in mental health crisis response are emerging, people with SMI and/or those in crisis will continue to encounter police when officers must serve as first responders, and importantly, during officers' routine patrol duties. As such, officers need training to safely and effectively interact in these situations. The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model is a collaborative approach that includes a 40-hour training of officers. CIT has been implemented in thousands of U.S. communities, and some agencies are now mandating all of their officers complete CIT training. Despite widespread support and growing research, a randomized, controlled trial (RCT) has never been conducted to assess the effectiveness of CIT training on officers' actual skills and behaviors. Prior research has relied on officers' self-report of their de-escalation skills and has not directly measured actual performance in a rigorous, standardized, controlled fashion. Furthermore, multi-site studies are lacking, and potential officer-level factors that may moderate CIT training outcomes have yet to be systematically assessed.
This study will partner with six sites across the country representing diverse geographic areas and constituency demographics. There are four Specific Aims of the study. First, the investigators will conduct a rigorous, multisite randomized controlled trial (RCT) of CIT mental health training. Each agency will provide 40 officers, for a total of 240. Among the 40 officers from each agency, half will be randomized to CIT training. Data will be collected using Standardized Scenarios, which will be rated centrally in a blinded fashion (blinded by site, study arm, and time). The primary outcome is actual verbal crisis de-escalation skills / non-verbal physical behavior. Second, the investigators will determine the impact of CIT training on two secondary outcomes: use of procedural justice and disposition-related decision-making.
- Conditions
- Officers' Skills and Behaviors
- Being tested
- Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training
- Keywords
- Crisis Intervention Team (CIT), Police Officers, Mental Health
- Medical subject headings
- Behavior, Psychological Well-Being
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) trainingBehavioural
Also called CIT mental health training
Standard 40-hour CIT training given in one week.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| CIT officers | Experimental | Police officers randomized to the experimental group will receive a 40-hour CIT training curriculum. Receives: Behavioral: Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training |
| Non-CIT officers | No intervention | Police officers randomized to the no-intervention group will not receive the 40-hour CIT training curriculum. |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Verbal Crisis De-escalation Skills / Non-Verbal Physical Behavior Rating (3 months)
Verbal Crisis De-escalation Skills / Non-Verbal Physical Behavior will be assessed via blinded video ratings. The primary outcome is the total score. Domains include: (1) use of reflective statements, (2) use of summarizing/paraphrasing, (3) labelling of emotions, (4) use of encouraging statements, (5) maintaining a conversational tone, (6) seeking clarification from the subject, (7) speaking in a calm and level voice, (8) displaying empathy, (9) displaying honesty, (10) use of simple instructions, (11) asking directly about suicidal ideation, (12) use of space: maintaining appropriate physical distance from the subject, (13) using cover and objects for safety as appropriate, (14) aspects of body language that promote collaboration. Total score ranges from 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating a better outcome.
Measured: 3 months
Verbal Crisis De-escalation Skills / Non-Verbal Physical Behavior Rating (6 months)
Verbal Crisis De-escalation Skills / Non-Verbal Physical Behavior will be assessed via blinded video ratings. The primary outcome is the total score. Domains include: (1) use of reflective statements, (2) use of summarizing/paraphrasing, (3) labelling of emotions, (4) use of encouraging statements, (5) maintaining a conversational tone, (6) seeking clarification from the subject, (7) speaking in a calm and level voice, (8) displaying empathy, (9) displaying honesty, (10) use of simple instructions, (11) asking directly about suicidal ideation, (12) use of space: maintaining appropriate physical distance from the subject, (13) using cover and objects for safety as appropriate, (14) aspects of body language that promote collaboration. Total score ranges from 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating a better outcome.
Measured: 6 months
Secondary outcomes (4)
Procedural justice
Blinded raters will score procedural justice of participants using a standardized rating scale. The total score will range from 0-100, with a higher score indicating greater procedural justice (better outcome).
Measured: 3 months
Procedural justice
Blinded raters will score procedural justice of participants using a standardized rating scale. The total score will range from 0-100, with a higher score indicating greater procedural justice (better outcome).
Measured: 6 months
Disposition-related decision-making
Participants will report on disposition-related decision-making. The total score will range from 0-100, with a higher score indicating better disposition-related decision-making (better outcome).
Measured: 3 months
Disposition-related decision-making
Participants will report on disposition-related decision-making. The total score will range from 0-100, with a higher score indicating better disposition-related decision-making (better outcome).
Measured: 6 months
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted4 Nov 2022
- Study start1 Jan 2023
- Primary completion31 Dec 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion31 Dec 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Officers' Skills and BehaviorsStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Columbia UniversityThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- Single-blind, parallel-group RCT
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 242 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Columbia University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc., Wayne State University
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Michael Compton, Columbia University
- Investigators
- Michael T. Compton, MD, MPH, Principal investigator, Columbia University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05606289
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- AAAU8439
- Other IDs
- R01MH128500, 8378
- Status last verified
- Jul 2026
- First submitted
- 24 Oct 2022
- Last updated
- 6 Jul 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 6 Jul 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Mental Health Training for Police Officers
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05606289
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- AAAU8439
- Conditions
- Officers' Skills and Behaviors
- Keywords
- Crisis Intervention Team (CIT), Police Officers, Mental Health
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Active, not recruiting
- Enrolment
- 242 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Columbia UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc., Wayne State University
- Study start
- 1 Jan 2023 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 31 Dec 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 31 Dec 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 4 Nov 2022 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn the effect, or lack thereof, of the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training among police officers. The main questions it aims to answer are:
- Whether the 40-hour CIT training improves police officers' verbal crisis de-escalation skills / non-verbal physical behavior
- Whether police officers with and without CIT training use different procedural justice and make different disposition-related decisions
Participants will:
- Receive or not receive CIT training depending on whether they are randomized to the intervention group or the control group.
- Participate in three assessments: baseline before the randomization, 3-months post-randomization, and 6-month post-randomization.
Researchers will compare police officers who were randomized to the control group with police officers who were randomized to the intervention group to see if receiving the CIT training make differences on the outcome measurements.
Detailed description
Individuals with serious mental illnesses (SMI), as well as those experiencing suicidality or psychiatric crisis encounter police officers frequently in the community. Almost a third of people with SMI have police involved in their pathway to mental health care. Although a variety of strategies to reduce law enforcement involvement in mental health crisis response are emerging, people with SMI and/or those in crisis will continue to encounter police when officers must serve as first responders, and importantly, during officers' routine patrol duties. As such, officers need training to safely and effectively interact in these situations. The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model is a collaborative approach that includes a 40-hour training of officers. CIT has been implemented in thousands of U.S. communities, and some agencies are now mandating all of their officers complete CIT training. Despite widespread support and growing research, a randomized, controlled trial (RCT) has never been conducted to assess the effectiveness of CIT training on officers' actual skills and behaviors. Prior research has relied on officers' self-report of their de-escalation skills and has not directly measured actual performance in a rigorous, standardized, controlled fashion. Furthermore, multi-site studies are lacking, and potential officer-level factors that may moderate CIT training outcomes have yet to be systematically assessed.
This study will partner with six sites across the country representing diverse geographic areas and constituency demographics. There are four Specific Aims of the study. First, the investigators will conduct a rigorous, multisite randomized controlled trial (RCT) of CIT mental health training. Each agency will provide 40 officers, for a total of 240. Among the 40 officers from each agency, half will be randomized to CIT training. Data will be collected using Standardized Scenarios, which will be rated centrally in a blinded fashion (blinded by site, study arm, and time). The primary outcome is actual verbal crisis de-escalation skills / non-verbal physical behavior. Second, the investigators will determine the impact of CIT training on two secondary outcomes: use of procedural justice and disposition-related decision-making.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- Single-blind, parallel-group RCT
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| CIT officers | Experimental | Behavioral: Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) trainingPolice officers randomized to the experimental group will receive a 40-hour CIT training curriculum. |
| Non-CIT officers | No intervention | –Police officers randomized to the no-intervention group will not receive the 40-hour CIT training curriculum. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (5 listed)
- 18 years or older
- English-speaking
- Has not yet taken part in CIT training
- Willing and able to be tested, randomized to CIT training or no training, and re-tested at 3-months and 6-months
- Employment as a police officer from participating site
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- -
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) trainingAlso: CIT mental health trainingStandard 40-hour CIT training given in one week. | Behavioural | CIT officers |
Primary outcome
Verbal Crisis De-escalation Skills / Non-Verbal Physical Behavior Rating (3 months)
Time frame: 3 months
Verbal Crisis De-escalation Skills / Non-Verbal Physical Behavior will be assessed via blinded video ratings. The primary outcome is the total score. Domains include: (1) use of reflective statements, (2) use of summarizing/paraphrasing, (3) labelling of emotions, (4) use of encouraging statements, (5) maintaining a conversational tone, (6) seeking clarification from the subject, (7) speaking in a calm and level voice, (8) displaying empathy, (9) displaying honesty, (10) use of simple instructions, (11) asking directly about suicidal ideation, (12) use of space: maintaining appropriate physical distance from the subject, (13) using cover and objects for safety as appropriate, (14) aspects of body language that promote collaboration. Total score ranges from 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating a better outcome.
Verbal Crisis De-escalation Skills / Non-Verbal Physical Behavior Rating (6 months)
Time frame: 6 months
Verbal Crisis De-escalation Skills / Non-Verbal Physical Behavior will be assessed via blinded video ratings. The primary outcome is the total score. Domains include: (1) use of reflective statements, (2) use of summarizing/paraphrasing, (3) labelling of emotions, (4) use of encouraging statements, (5) maintaining a conversational tone, (6) seeking clarification from the subject, (7) speaking in a calm and level voice, (8) displaying empathy, (9) displaying honesty, (10) use of simple instructions, (11) asking directly about suicidal ideation, (12) use of space: maintaining appropriate physical distance from the subject, (13) using cover and objects for safety as appropriate, (14) aspects of body language that promote collaboration. Total score ranges from 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating a better outcome.
4 secondary outcomes
Procedural justice
Time frame: 3 months
Procedural justice
Time frame: 6 months
Disposition-related decision-making
Time frame: 3 months
Disposition-related decision-making
Time frame: 6 months
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 6 Jul 2026.
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Michael T. Compton, MD, MPH principal investigator
Columbia University
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training in people with Officers' Skills and Behaviors, run by Columbia University at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 5 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: under way, not looking for participants, as of the sponsor's last update on 6 Jul 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Verbal Crisis De-escalation Skills / Non-Verbal Physical Behavior Rating (3 months) (time frame: 3 months). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 6 Jul 2026.