The Fayetteville Cumberland Crisis Intervention Team
recognized 10 law enforcement, emergency responders, trainers and supporters
Oct. 23 during the annual CIT Awards ceremony held in the Cumberland County
Detention Center. The CIT is a jail diversion program established in 2009 to
provide a specialized law enforcement response to individuals experiencing a
crisis related to mental illness.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of
Cumberland, Harnett and Lee counties sponsored the awards ceremony and
presented honors to the following recipients:
Deputy of the Year:
James Fortune, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office
Officer of the Year:
Amanda Bell, Fayetteville Police Department
Detention Officer of
the Year: Nichole Hoking, Cumberland County Detention Center
Emergency Medical
Technician of the Year: Stacey Masters, Cumberland County EMS
Telecommunicator of
the Year: Kasie Clark, Fayetteville Police 911
Communications
Trainer of the Year:
Oretha Harris, Cape Fear Valley Health
Champion of the Year:
Recovery Guest Panel, Myrover-Reese Fellowship Homes, Inc.
Founders Award:
Chief Blair Myhand, Clayton Police Department
Founders Award:
Wayne Cannon, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office
Advocate Award:
Dorothy Johnson, NAMI Board member
Narratives of the award nominees are listed below:
Fortune is a School Resource Officer at Ramsey Street
Alternative High School. Fortune acts as a mentor, provides guidance and
provides resources to help prevent students from facing suspension from school,
criminal charges or incarceration.
Since receiving her CIT training, Bell has been a
driving force in expanding the emphasis of veterans with mental illness to the
forefront of conversation in Fayetteville. Bell, who is a veteran, uses her
experience to relate to current or prior military members in crisis.
Hoking was nominated for her excellence as a CIT
Detention Officer. Hoking works daily with family members calling about their
incarcerated loved ones at the detention center and has worked closely with the
CIT coordinator to assist detainees with mental illness.
Masters was nominated for her eagerness to obtain as
much CIT training as possible and her use of the training on the job as an EMT
to help people experiencing a mental health crisis get connected with the
appropriate resources.
Clark was nominated for her dedication to people in
crisis and her ability to adapt and understand a caller’s situation by using
active listening techniques that calm the caller while keeping her fellow
dispatchers informed of all scene safety information.
Harris was nominated for Trainer of the Year by
Communicare of Cumberland County for her passion and knowledge in teaching
about adolescents in CIT instruction.
Myrover-Reese Fellowship Homes, Inc. was nominated
for its recovery guest panel, which has been beneficial to CIT officers in
understanding how to better help people suffering from substance abuse,
especially when abuse co-occurs with mental illness, and how to motivate people
to seek treatment.
Myhand was nominated for his efforts to organize the
Veterans Crisis Intervention Team in 2015 when he was with the Apex Police
Department. Now as the Police Chief in Clayton, NC, Myhand has been instrumental
in the programs and expansion, including two Veteran CIT trainings held in
Cumberland County. Myhand retired from the North Carolina Army National Guard
and is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in
Afghanistan.
Cannon was nominated for the Founders Award for his
energy and devotion to keep the CIT program operating, achieving and growing.
Cannon has been the driving force behind CIT since organization for the team
began in 2007.
Johnson, who is a NAMI board member, was nominated
for her tireless advocacy for people living with mental illness and her efforts
to focus attention on this population and ways to improve their quality of
life.
Founders Award Renamed for Cannon
The Founders Award was renamed the Wayne Cannon Award in
honor of the coordinator, who will soon retire.
The Fayetteville Cumberland CIT Leadership Committee made a
request to NAMI to rename the award. Sheriff’s Senior Sgt. Hardin Brown Jr.
announced the renaming and presented Cannon the proclamation on behalf of Fayetteville
Cumberland CIT.
“This has been an amazing opportunity, and this has been an
amazing team,” Cannon said.
“Wayne Cannon is not just a friend of NAMI, he is a friend
to the people who suffer the plight of mental illness, which is so important,”
said NAMI Board President Hannah Carroll.
The Crisis Intervention Team seeks to help citizens get
treatment instead of being incarcerated by training first responders in how to
handle an individual experiencing a mental health crisis. CIT includes law
enforcement, paramedics, telecommunicators, detention officers and magistrates.
For more information, call CIT Program Coordinator Wayne
Cannon of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office at 910-672-5809.