Photo by Senior Police Officer Matt Fowler, Houston Police Photo Lab
The Houston Police Department contracted with Northwestern University to conduct an officer involved shooting study. The following are significant results regarding CIT officers:
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“Officers responding to Critical Incident Training (CIT)-designated situations were 82 percent less likely to use their guns as compare to non-CIT situations” (Note: Critical Incident Training refers to Crisis Intervention Training)(page x in Executive Summary)
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“… officers called to incidents designated for the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) were associated to a 57 percent decrease in the likelihood that officers would use guns during the incident.” (page 86)
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“… an officer given information about a CIT incident before arriving at the scene was 82 percent less likely to shoot than other officers.” (page 89)
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“Notably, officers used verbal commands in every CIT-designated incident …” (Note: This is important because the study found a correlation between communication on the scene and the likelihood of a shooting, e.g., the more communication the less chance of a shooting) (page 99)
To read the full study:
http://www.houstontx.gov/police/department_reports/ois/HPDThesis.pdf
