Christine Jensen, Director of Training, joined fellow community advocates and Chicago Police Lieutenant Jack Benigno on a panel of Community Partners at the 2019 International Association of Chiefs of Police, (IACP). This year their conference was held at the McCormick Place in Chicago on October 28, 2019. The panelists addressed the benefits for police when working with community partners, especially as it relates to people with behavioral health issues, developmental disabilities, the LGBTQ community and people of color.
Christine was selected for the panel due to her role as a CIT instructor (Crisis Intervention Team) – Anixter Center has been conducting trainings for Chicago Police Department (CPD) CIT participants for approximately 10 years since the program’s inception. Christine states, “I am proud to continue that tradition and help ensure that officers are trained to better address situations involving individuals with Developmental Disabilities.” She also added, in the last year, CPD has sought out additional feedback from Anixter Center regarding Developmental Disability for additional officer training programs and news bulletins to ensure accurate, consistent messaging within the department. Chicago Hearing Society, a division of Anixter Center, recently connected with CPD as well to offer insight and guidance regarding police interactions with Deaf, Hard of Hearing or Deafblind individuals.
We thank Christine Jensen for her passion in doing all she can to help individuals with disabilities.