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| Cpl. Stephen Crafton, left, is shown with Sheriff Kevin Rambosk at the Dec. 8 NAMI awards ceremony where he was named Crisis Intervention Team Officer of the Year for 2015. Photo by Cpl. Efrain Hernandez/CCSO |
A Collier County Sheriff’s Office deputy has been honored
for his ability to assist students with emotional and behavioral disabilities.
The Collier County chapter of the National Alliance on
Mental Illness (NAMI) recently named Youth Relations Bureau Cpl. Stephen
Crafton as Crisis Intervention Team Officer of the Year for 2015.
Cpl. Crafton was selected from more than 600 CIT-trained
officers in Collier County. For the past three years he has been a youth
relations deputy assigned to Gulfview Middle School.
Youth Relations Bureau Sgt. Thad Rhodes said there have been
many times that Cpl. Crafton has been called to the emotional/behavioral disabilities
(EBD) classroom to assist with a student who was having apparent difficulty
getting through their day.
“Cpl. Crafton’s calm demeanor and understanding of how to
get on the students’ level to communicate has de-escalated a number of
incidences which could have resulted in a problematic situation for the
school,” Sgt. Rhodes wrote in his letter nominating Cpl. Crafton for the
award.
Cpl. Crafton’s rapport with EBD students has led to a
decrease in the number of incidents in the classroom, said Rhodes.
“The students in the EBD Unit have developed a supportive
relationship with Cpl. Crafton, and when struggling to get through their day
have asked their teachers if they can visit with Cpl. Crafton to cool down,”
Sgt. Rhodes wrote.
Crisis intervention team training is a program that was
specifically designed to improve the way law enforcement and the community
respond to people experiencing a mental health crisis. Originally established
as collaboration between NAMI Memphis, Tenn., and Memphis police, the training
has now inspired 2,800 communities in 45 states across the country to offer
this program. The Collier NAMI chapter has had more than 900 CIT graduates.
Sheriff Kevin Rambosk has made CIT training a priority for
CCSO. More than 600 deputies have been trained.
