El-Mallakh Peggy L, Kiran Kranti, El-Mallakh Rif S
From the College of Nursing, University of Kentucky, Lexington, and the Mood Disorders Research Program, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, Kentucky.
South Med J. 2014 Jun;107(6):391-5. doi: 10.14423/01.SMJ.0000450721.14787.7d.
Police crisis intervention teams (CIT) have demonstrated their effectiveness in reducing injury to law enforcement personnel and citizens and the criminalization of mental illness; however, their financial effect has not been fully investigated. The objective of the study was to determine the total costs or total savings associated with implementing a CIT program in a medium-size city.
The costs and savings associated with the implementation of a CIT program were analyzed in a medium-size city, Louisville, Kentucky, 9 years after the program's initiation. Costs associated with officer training, increased emergency psychiatry visits, and hospital admissions resulting from CIT activity were compared with the savings associated with diverted hospitalizations and reduced legal bookings.
Based on an average of 2400 CIT calls annually, the overall costs associated with CIT per year were $2,430,128 ($146,079 for officer training, $1,768,536 for hospitalizations of patients brought in by CIT officers, $508,690 for emergency psychiatry evaluations, and $6823 for arrests). The annual savings of the CIT were $3,455,025 ($1,148,400 in deferred hospitalizations, $2,296,800 in reduced inpatient referrals from jail, and $9825 in avoided bookings and jail time). The balance is $1,024,897 in annual cost savings.
The net financial effect of a CIT program is of modest benefit; however, much of this analysis was based on estimates and average length of stay. Furthermore, the costs and savings associated with officer or citizen injuries were not included because there was inadequate information about their prevalence and costs. Finally, this analysis does not take into account the nonmonetary gains of a CIT program.
警察危机干预小组（CIT）已证明其在减少执法人员和公民受伤以及精神疾病刑事定罪方面的有效性；然而，其财务影响尚未得到充分调查。本研究的目的是确定在一个中等规模城市实施CIT项目的总成本或总节省金额。
在肯塔基州路易斯维尔市一个中等规模城市，对CIT项目实施9年后与之相关的成本和节省情况进行了分析。将与警官培训、CIT活动导致的急诊精神科就诊增加和住院相关的成本，与因住院转移和法律登记减少而节省的费用进行了比较。
基于每年平均2400次CIT呼叫，每年与CIT相关的总成本为2430128美元（警官培训费用146079美元，CIT警官带来的患者住院费用1768536美元，急诊精神科评估费用508690美元，逮捕费用6823美元）。CIT每年节省的费用为3455025美元（延迟住院节省1148400美元，监狱住院转诊减少节省2296800美元，避免登记和监禁时间节省9825美元）。结余为每年节省成本1024897美元。
CIT项目的净财务影响有一定益处；然而，该分析大部分基于估计和平均住院时间。此外，未包括与警官或公民受伤相关的成本和节省，因为关于其发生率和成本的信息不足。最后，该分析未考虑CIT项目的非货币收益。
