TROY — Nineteen officers from Miami, Darke and Shelby Counties, including from area hospital security teams and courts, completed the Tri-County Crisis Intervention Team Academy for Law Enforcement Professionals Dec. 5-8 2022.

During the four-day training, officers hear from a variety of professionals who work with persons with mental illness, substance use disorders and other special populations. Officers learn techniques for safely engaging with special populations and learn about resources available in the community with the goal of getting people the help they need and prevent unnecessary incarceration or other legal matters,

The December 2022 Academy is the 21st class in 17 years of the Tri-County Board’s program, and the first to be held at the Tri-County Administration & Training Center at 1280 N. County Road 25A, Troy. More than 375 officers have completed the Tri-County CIT Academy, with more than 250 still active on local law enforcement rosters.

The officers completing the training are William Daugherty, Officer with the Greenville Police Department; Alexis Sheffer, Jonathan Kanet and Cole Skelton, probation officers with Miami County Common Pleas and Municipal Courts; Miami County Sheriff’s Deupties Dakota Brisset, Dustin Elsass and Derek Stephenson; Hunter Clayton and Devin Olinger, officers with Premier Health Department of Public Safety; Shelby County Jail Corrections Officers Susan Beam, Stephanie Blosser, Caitie Earls, Kurtis Kester, Dylan Owen and Andrew Vondrell; and Shelby County Sheriff’s Deputies Matt Luthman, John Pence, Nick Topp and Chris VanMeter. Officers in the December 2022 Academy class ranged in experience from 1 year to 28 years in law enforcement.

For more information about the CIT Academy, see www.tcbmds.org/cit-academy.