Wyoming sheriffs and chiefs push statewide expansion of Crisis Intervention Teams after grant-funded training reached hundreds

Alan Thompson, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police (WASCOP), and retired Chief Roy Eckert briefed the House Labor, Health & Social Services Committee on efforts to expand Crisis Intervention Teams, or CIT, across Wyoming.

Thompson told the committee that WASCOP entered into a contract with the Wyoming Department of Health to expand and professionalize CIT delivery statewide and to “secure and train the trainers,” and that the grant supported reimbursements for agencies whose personnel attended CIT training. "We've been asked to talk to the committee about CIT," Thompson said, describing the association's role as a conduit for training and interagency communication.

CIT presenters and WASCOP officials told the committee the program is intended to be a community-based team effort — not just a training class — that brings law enforcement, mental-health providers, advocacy groups and people with lived experience together to identify and fill local gaps in crisis response. "CIT is a community based program that requires more than just a law enforcement presence at the table," said Roy Eckert, identified in the meeting as a retired Powell police chief and president of the board of CIT International.

Thompson and…