During the week of May 5 to May 9, 2025, the Oneida County…

During the week of May 5 to May 9, 2025, the Oneida County Department of Mental Health hosted Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) for police officers at the Mohawk Valley Police Academy. This intensive 5-day, 40-hour program was led by Officer Marissa Vomer from the Utica Police Department and Michael Pracht from The Neighborhood Center, with support from several role-playing facilitators.

CIT is designed to enhance police officers' responses to individuals experiencing mental health crises, aiming to reduce the risk of serious injury or death during such interactions. The training emphasizes keeping individuals with mental illness out of jail and facilitating access to appropriate treatment and recovery resources.

Key topics covered in the training included effective

communication strategies, recognizing signs of emotional distress, understanding mental illnesses and their recovery processes, trauma, PTSD, developmental disabilities, autism awareness, dementia, and local mental health resources.

A special thanks was extended to community agencies that contributed to the training by sharing their insights, including Community Health & Behavioral Services, ICAN, The Neighborhood Center’s Mobile Crisis Assessment Team, and the Oneida County Department of Mental Health.

Congratulations to the newly certified CIT officers from various agencies, including:

New Hartford PD:

• Joseph Pruckno

• Dylan Evans

Oneida County Sheriff’s Office Corrections:

• Robert Wright

• Brian Ciulla

Utica Police Department:

• Kayla Goldstein

• Jared Longo

• Joseph Aiello

• Matthew Williams

• Daniel Zayas