Findlay Police Sergeant Honored For Crisis Intervention Efforts

A big honor for a Findlay Police sergeant who trains first responders on how to better deal with people suffering from mental illness and addiction.

Sergeant Dan Harmon was presented with the statewide CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) Coordinator of the year award in Columbus, Ohio.

“It’s a very honorable award and I’m very humbled to get it,” Harmon told WFIN News.

Sgt. Harmon heads up the training of all first responders in the county on how to deal with people in crisis from a mental health or addiction issue.

He says it’s a 40-hour training session and sometimes they’ll do advanced training throughout the year.

He says the CIT model reduces both stigma and the need for further involvement with the criminal justice system.

“The whole idea of crisis intervention is to keep people with mental and addictions out of the criminal justice system because we want to get them the help they need instead of punishing them as a criminal.”

In September, Sgt. Harmon was presented with NAMI Hancock County’s Crisis Intervention Team Officer of the Year Award during the Suicide Prevention Vigil & Butterfly Release in Findlay.