Press Briefing: In response to the most recent deaths of emotionally disturbed persons at the hands of NYPD officers, 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, the National Latino Officers Association and the Grand Council of Guardians is calling for the immediate establishment of Crisis Intervention Teams. Crisis Intervention Teams (C.I.T.) are comprised of physical & mental health professionals, family advocates and law enforcement professionals who, together, receive extensive training and respond to police assistance calls for individuals who are experiencing an emotional/psychological episode. C.I.T. has been effectively implemented in various police departments in the country and has resulted in a more professional and intelligent response to incidents involving emotionally disturbed persons, with or without a documented psychological/psychiatric history. 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care co-founder Marq Claxton states, “Given the history of fatalities associated with the NYPD being called to help a person who is experiencing a psychological episode, the C.I.T. model could provide additional safety for the responding Police Officer and the Emotionally Disturbed Person.” National Latino Officers Association executive chairman Anthony Miranda states, “With the C.I.T. model the families of many people who have psychiatric challenges would have a renewed confidence in calling the police for assistance as opposed to the justified apprehension because of these fatal encounters. The NYPD didn’t reform after the Khiel Coppin killing in this same community and now we’ve had another avoidable tragedy.”