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An Act To Increase Crisis Intervention Training in the State
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 34-B MRSA §1219, sub-§2, ¶B, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 431, §2, is amended to read:
 
B.  Systems for the evaluation of serious mental illness, within 24 hours of contact with the criminal justice system, of persons charged with minor crimes and timely referral of those persons identified as seriously mentally ill or as having a mental health crisis to appropriate community mental health programs;.
 
To ensure municipal police departments and county sheriff departments are able to appropriately identify a mental health crisis and mental illness, beginning January 2017, at least 20% of law enforcement officers in each jurisdiction must have completed a recognized model of crisis intervention team training. This training must be provided by a nonprofit mental health entity. Beginning June 2017, municipal police or county sheriff officers who have not completed a recognized model of crisis intervention team training must be certified in mental health first aid;
Sec. 2. Rules. No later than December 15, 2015, the Department of Public Safety shall adopt rules, which are routine technical rules as described in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A, that specify the Memphis model of crisis intervention team training, as described in a publication by Randolph Dupont et al., "Crisis Intervention Team Core Elements" (The University of Memphis, School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, CIT Center, 2007) as the model of crisis intervention team training that must be completed by law enforcement officers pursuant to Title 34-B, section 1219, subsection 2, paragraph B.
 
SUMMARY
This bill requires that, beginning January 2017, at least 20% of law enforcement officers in a municipal police department and in a county sheriff department must complete the so-called Memphis model of crisis intervention team training. Beginning June 2017, officers who have not completed this training must be certified in mental health first aid.