KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A sergeant with the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department is poised to help coordinate the state’s Crisis Intervention Team efforts.
The Missouri Department of Mental Health’s Crisis Intervention Team Missouri Council announced Thursday that KCPD Sgt. Ashley McCunniff as the new state coordinator for the program.
McCunniff serves as supervisor of KCPD’s CIT Unit, which is deployed when police officers interact with people experiencing behavioral health conditions.
From a state perspective, McCunniff will lead Missouri’s CIT during a time when the organization is working to expand its efforts to additional areas of the state. The CIT Council divides the state into seven different geographic districts, each with their own regional coordinator.
In her new role, McCunniff will help coordinate efforts across all seven regions.
“I recall a small, dedicated group of CIT officers from across the state who established the original framework for today’s statewide CIT initiative,” Missouri Behavioral Health Council President/CEO Brent McGinty said in a press release Thursday. “Sergeant McCunniff was a key leader within that original team.”
McCunniff will be the third statewide coordinator since the program was launched in January 2016 after then-Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon allocated funding for the partnership between the Missouri Department of Mental Health and the the Missouri Behavioral Health Council.
Prior to McCunniff, Jason Klaus, who now serves as Perry County Sheriff, coordinated the program for five years. The initial coordinator of the program was St. Louis County Police Capt. Jeremy Romo, who served in the position for more than two years.
“Passion for an idea or concept is often hard to find. MO CIT has been blessed to have so many great leaders to mold CIT into an internationally recognized model, and Sergeant McCunniff stands out as one of those leaders,” Klaus said Thursday. “As the next MO CIT coordinator, Sergeant McCunniff will get to lead this passionate team, from all across this state, into the next phase of transforming Missouri’s crisis response system.”
After completing a five-day, 40-hour training program, general patrol officers within police departments are able to switch to a specialized role when responding to a potential mental-health related crises.
More information about Missouri’s CIT Council is available online.
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