TULSA, OK – In an effort to improve community wellness for citizens across the state, the Muscogee Nation Lighthorse Police Department (LHPD) hosted a week-long intertribal Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training in Tulsa.
Open to all tribal nations and tribal police departments, the training course marked the first time in the State of Oklahoma wherein crisis intervention training was entirely conducted by partnering tribal nations in an effort to create a standardized and uniformed approach for responding to emergency calls and situations involving individuals experiencing crisis. Trainees were sent from the Cherokee Nation, Osage Nation, Muscogee Nation, and Iowa Tribe to complete the 40-hour course and obtain their certification as CIT officers.
Instructed by Muscogee Nation Lighthorse Police officers Samantha Laughlin and Chaplain Stephen Currans, the training also included supplemental information and presentations from Muscogee Nation Behavioral Health Project Director Tyler Stone; leading Mental Health and Justice Systems Expert Dr. Crystal Hernandez; and representatives from the Muscogee Nation Office of Attorney General, Tribal Juvenile Justice, Children and Family Services Administration (CFSA), and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).
The initiative was implemented in response to the rise in situations of individuals experiencing crisis due to either substance use or behavioral health-related events. According to the latest report from the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS), of all trainings ODMHSAS has provided statewide, only 3% were attended by tribal law enforcement. The Muscogee Nation has committed to improving not only their response, but all tribal nations’ response to the rise in crisis related calls-for-service.
