Which of the following would NOT be a focus of Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training?

• A. Recognizing and de-escalating mental health crises and connecting individuals to appropriate services.
• B. Training in debriefing after critical incidents without mental health context.
• C. De-escalation techniques and crisis communication.
• D. Firearms safety and tactics training.

Answer: (D)

CIT training focuses on recognizing mental health crises and responding in ways that de-escalate the situation, keep people safe, and connect them to appropriate services. Firearms safety and tactics training falls outside that crisis-intervention scope; it’s standard police training aimed at weapons and tactics, not the specific skills of crisis de-escalation and resource linkage that CIT emphasizes. In addition, when incidents are reviewed, the debriefings in CIT typically include mental health context to improve future responses. The other elements—identifying mental health crises, using de-escalation techniques and crisis communication, and conducting debriefings with a mental health lens—are all aligned with CIT’s focus.