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| 1 | AN ACT concerning local government. | ||||||
| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | ||||||
| 3 | represented in the General Assembly: | ||||||
| 4 | Section 5. The Illinois Police Training Act is amended by | ||||||
| 5 | changing Section 10.17 as follows: | ||||||
| 6 | (50 ILCS 705/10.17) | ||||||
| 7 | Sec. 10.17. Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) intervention | ||||||
| 8 | team training; mental health awareness training; certified | ||||||
| 9 | therapy dog team training and certification. | ||||||
| 10 | (a) The Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board | ||||||
| 11 | shall develop and approve a standard curriculum for certified | ||||||
| 12 | training programs in crisis intervention, including a | ||||||
| 13 | specialty certification course of at least 40 hours, | ||||||
| 14 | addressing specialized policing responses to people with | ||||||
| 15 | mental illnesses. The Board shall conduct Crisis Intervention | ||||||
| 16 | Team (CIT) training programs that train officers to identify | ||||||
| 17 | signs and symptoms of mental illness, to de-escalate | ||||||
| 18 | situations involving individuals who appear to have a mental | ||||||
| 19 | illness, and connect that person in crisis to treatment. | ||||||
| 20 | Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training programs shall be a | ||||||
| 21 | collaboration between law enforcement professionals, mental | ||||||
| 22 | health providers, families, and consumer advocates and must | ||||||
| 23 | minimally include the following components: (1) basic | ||||||
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| 1 | information about mental illnesses and how to recognize them; | ||||||
| 2 | (2) information about mental health laws and resources; (3) | ||||||
| 3 | learning from family members of individuals with mental | ||||||
| 4 | illness and their experiences; and (4) verbal de-escalation | ||||||
| 5 | training and role-plays. Officers who have successfully | ||||||
| 6 | completed this program shall be issued a certificate attesting | ||||||
| 7 | to their attendance of a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) | ||||||
| 8 | training program. | ||||||
| 9 | (b) The Board shall create an introductory course | ||||||
| 10 | incorporating adult learning models that provides law | ||||||
| 11 | enforcement officers with an awareness of mental health issues | ||||||
| 12 | including a history of the mental health system, types of | ||||||
| 13 | mental health illness including signs and symptoms of mental | ||||||
| 14 | illness and common treatments and medications, and the | ||||||
| 15 | potential interactions law enforcement officers may have on a | ||||||
| 16 | regular basis with these individuals, their families, and | ||||||
| 17 | service providers including de-escalating a potential crisis | ||||||
| 18 | situation. This course, in addition to other traditional | ||||||
| 19 | learning settings, may be made available in an electronic | ||||||
| 20 | format. | ||||||
| 21 | (c) The Board shall develop a course and certification | ||||||
| 22 | program for certified therapy dog teams consisting of officers | ||||||
| 23 | employing the use of therapy dogs in relation to crisis and | ||||||
| 24 | emergency response. This program shall aim to ensure that | ||||||
| 25 | Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) officers and therapy dog teams | ||||||
| 26 | are available in various regions throughout the State to be | ||||||
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| 1 | dispatched in the event of a crisis. | ||||||
| 2 | The amendatory changes to this Section made by Public Act | ||||||
| 3 | 101-652 shall take effect January 1, 2022. | ||||||
| 4 | (Source: P.A. 101-652, eff. 7-1-21; 102-28, eff. 6-25-21.) | ||||||