Lakewood Police Chief Named Ohio Crisis Intervention Team Chief of the Year

On Friday, May 4th, 2018, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Ohio Crisis Intervention Team, and the Ohio Criminal Justice Coordinating Center of Excellence named Lakewood Police Chief Timothy Malley the 2018 Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Chief of the Year.  Click here to see the presentation.

The CIT Chief of the Year Award is designed for law enforcement leadership who promote CIT and ensure support for their local CIT Team, CIT core elements, practices, and partnerships. Nominees are limited to Police Chiefs and Sheriffs. CIT is a national, police-based first responder program of pre-arrest jail diversion for those in a mental illness crisis. This program provides law enforcement-based crisis intervention training for helping individuals with mental illness.

Responding to the duty to provide an improved level of service to residents with mental illness and their families, Chief Malley has led the successful implementation of a CIT program within the City of Lakewood Police Department. The implementation of CIT in Lakewood has enabled the safety of all persons on the scene of a mental health crisis, including the person in crisis, their families, and the officers. CIT has also been effective in keeping those suffering from mental illness out of the criminal justice system and helping them access mental health care.

While leading implementation of the CIT program in Lakewood, Chief Malley was instrumental in making this a regional effort by coordinating with the leadership of the Westshore Police Departments of Rocky River, Bay Village, Fairview Park, Westlake, North Olmsted and the Cleveland Metroparks Rangers as valuable partner agencies in the effort.

Lieutenant Roger Warner, who oversees the CIT training program in Lakewood, stated, “Chief Malley has been wholly supportive of policy development, continuing and advancing CIT training, and in the promotion and recognition of the successes of our CIT officers. Without the initial recognition, support, guidance, and direction of Chief Malley, the Westshore suburban area communities might still not have CIT as a tool for helping those in need.”

In 2017, the City of Lakewood Police Department responded to 206 CIT calls. Of these 206, 98% were resolved with no injuries, and only 1 incident led to an arrest. The City of Lakewood currently has 19 CIT trained police personnel, including one police dispatcher and one corrections officer. The first class of the regional CIT program graduated 24 officers on April 8th, 2016. Since then, three more classes of CIT officers have graduated from this program.