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The Memphis model, Crisis Intervention Team has had a national impact of impressive proportions. Police departments, advocates, and government officials have visited Memphis and developed the identical program in their area. The U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Human Services, and SAMHSA have honored the CIT program as a best practice model. The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), the National Association of People of Color Against Suicide, the American Association of Suicidology, Amnesty International (USA), and the CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice (Law Enforcement News) have all cited this program for national recognition. It has been featured in the Washington Post, the LA Times, the Minneapolis Tribune, the Orlando Sentinel, and the Houston Chronicle. Advocate Dr. E. Fuller Torrey has said this program should be “imitated in every city in America.” Sociologist Dr. Hank Steadman called it the “most visible pre-jail diversion program in America.” Former Montgomery County, Maryland Police Chief Charles Moose has called CIT “policing for the 21 st century.” This sort of recognition has led the Memphis Police CIT Program to receive over 150 requests a year for technical assistance from municipalities around the nation.
CIT has been featured nationally at the White House Conference on Mental Health and the inaugural Department of Justice and Health and Human Services Conference on Mental Illness and the Criminal Justice System. It has been the subject of reviews by CNN and National Public Radio and was featured in the Amnesty International (USA) paper on the treatment of individuals with mental illness in the United States. The Memphis Model has been imitated in numerous municipalities including Albuquerque, Akron, Ft. Wayne, Portland, Seattle, Houston, Orlando, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis, and has received international recognition from police departments and law enforcement organizations in Australia, Canada, and Great Britain.
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