RALEIGH — George Reynolds Jr. of Moore County has been named the National Alliance on Mental Illness North Carolina’s Crisis Intervention Team Champion of the Year.
The award is given to a recipient who excels in the CIT’s fundamental mission, which is to divert those with mental illnesses from jail when this can be done with little risk to public safety. Reynolds received the honor during a Feb. 10 luncheon at NAMI’s statewide CIT conference at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh.
“George Reynolds has been essential to the success of the program in Moore County,” Moore Sheriff Neil Godfrey said in a release. “He has always been willing to put forth the extra effort that is sometimes needed to complete the CIT program’s work. He continues to work with officers on an individual and group basis to help officers build their intervention skills. He has been and continues to be essential for the success of our CIT program in Moore County.”
CIT is a pre-booking jail diversion program designed to improve the outcomes of police interactions with people with mental illnesses. CIT training is usually a 40-hour training program for law enforcement and first responders, aimed at identifying — and effectively and compassionately responding to — police situations involving people in a mental health crisis.
Reynolds is a founding member of the Sandhills Crisis Intervention Team, founded in 2008, and is part of the North Carolina’s statewide CIT Committee and CIT International. He was instrumental in the modification of the CIT program for telecommunicators, detention center staff and EMT staff. He continues to arrange important CIT meetings and works to spread the mission of NAMI — providing support, education, advocacy, and public awareness so that all affected by mental illness can build better lives.
Reynolds serves as the Sandhills Crisis Intervention Team resident photographer, taking literally thousands of pictures at events, such as CIT trainings. He has used technical knowledge to convert an audio file of the Hearing Voices curriculum from a CD to mp3 format, enabling the program to be more accessible to others. He also designed, ordered, and arranged for distribution CIT information cards for officers, first responders and other personnel who may respond to crises.
For more than 30 years, NAMI North Carolina has provided free support groups, education programs, and advocacy efforts throughout North Carolina. For more information on programsand the 34 affiliate organizations in North Carolina, visit www.naminc.org.
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