Johnson County’s crisis intervention team is now certified after a two-year delay.
Crisis Intervention Team, or CIT, is a partnership between law enforcement and mental health professionals to help people with mental disorders and/or addictions access the treatment they need in a crisis, rather than place them in the criminal justice system. The origins of the program date back to 2019, when Sheriff Duane Burgess and Court Services Director and Chief Probation Officer Angela Morris met and discussed creating a program, with the ultimate goal of having all law enforcement officers in the county trained through it.
Since then, law enforcement agencies from across the county have sent officers through the program. The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office created three full-time crisis intervention deputy positions in 2023 — staffed by deputies Jim Engemark, Chad Poynter and Shannon Chambers — and later added a program therapist, Heather Teike, and a therapy dog, Queso. The deputies respond to crisis calls — like mental health crises, overdoses, or cases where the elderly are in need — take over the scene and deal with the situation, which includes spending time with the individual and trying to get them connected to services.