A Crisis Resource from Why HE Kept Me
"Do you have a CIT-trained officer available?" — one question that can change a mental health emergency from a tragedy into a turning point.
Start Here
The seven words are a question: "Do you have a CIT-trained officer available?" Ask it the moment you call 911 for a mental health emergency. It tells the dispatcher to send an officer trained in de-escalation — and it can change the outcome of the call.
"Do you have a CIT-trained officer available?"
Seven Words · One Question · A Different OutcomeIf you or someone you love is in crisis right now, call or text 988 — the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Free, confidential, 24/7. You do not have to know what to say. You only have to reach out.
Know Before You Need It
Not every badge comes with the same training. Knowing the difference — before the storm — is how families change outcomes.
CIT stands for Crisis Intervention Team — police officers who have completed at least 40 hours of specialized training in recognizing mental illness, de-escalating a crisis, and connecting people with treatment instead of incarceration.
CIT programs exist in thousands of communities across the country. But in a crisis, they only help if someone asks for them.
Some cities also have a Community Response Team (CRT), where a licensed mental health clinician responds alongside — or instead of — police.
If a CRT exists in your area, ask for them by name. A clinician at the door changes the entire temperature of a crisis.
A mental health call answered without training can escalate in seconds. A call answered by CIT can end with no handcuffs, no weapons drawn, and a ride toward help instead of a cell.
The seven words are how an ordinary caller — a mother, a neighbor, a friend — asks for that outcome out loud.
The 911 Script
When calling 911 for a mental health emergency, say this — calmly, clearly, and as many times as it takes.
The most important sentence you can say:
"I need a CIT-trained officer. This is a mental health crisis, not a criminal matter."Then ask the question directly:
"Do you have a CIT-trained officer available?"If a Community Response Team exists in your area, ask for them by name. A clinician can respond alongside or instead of police.
Dispatchers are trained to route accordingly when asked directly. You are not being difficult. You are being precise — and precision saves lives.
Call or text 988 — the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — when someone is in emotional crisis but not in immediate physical danger. Counselors answer 24/7 and can dispatch your local mobile crisis team. Call 911 when there is immediate danger to life; then use the words above.
Why We Teach These Words
Actual doorbell footage · May 2025
In May 2025, Thoris Lamar Burt called 911 on himself during a hallucination episode — something most men, and most Black men especially, are afraid to do. The CIT-trained officers from the Orange County Sheriff's Office who responded did so with no handcuffs, no weapons drawn, and no escalation. The doorbell camera caught it all, and that night became one of the central chapters of Why HE Kept Me.
"CIT-trained officers. No handcuffs. No weapons. Just help that arrived trained."
Chapter 22 · When Training Meets the MomentBefore the Storm
In a crisis, you will not have time to search. Do these three things today.
Look up your local CIT program through CIT International at citinternational.org.
Know whether your city has a Community Response Team, and learn how your county dispatches mental health calls — before you ever need to.
Put these in your phone today, side by side:
988 — Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text)
Your local non-emergency line
Your local mobile crisis team
Pastors, small groups, NAMI families, CIT programs, teachers, coaches — this page is meant to travel. Link it, print it, teach it from the pulpit.
Somebody in your circle is living this in silence. Seven words could be the reason their story keeps going.
Questions, Answered
The Story Behind the Words
Why HE Kept Me by Thoris Lamar Burt & Carolyn Virginia Burt is the true mother-son story behind this page — schizoaffective disorder, a near-fatal night in a garage, CIT officers at the front door, and the God who refused to let go. Read the whole testimony.
Also available in hardcover — $24.99 · See the CIT resources on the homepage