Urbana Police Department Officer Keith Hurst, left, receives the Champaign/Logan Crisis Intervention Team Officer of the Year Award from Adam Sorensen, Mental Health, Drug and Alcohol Services Board of Logan and Champaign Counties director of treatment and recovery, during a CIT Appreciation Luncheon for law enforcement and other area agencies Thursday at Quest Community Church, West Liberty. Officer Hurst attended the CIT training hosted by the MHDAS Board during October 2019, and was nominated for the award related to a mental health crisis situation involving a man who was holding a firearm to his own head. Officer Hurst was able to talk with the individual using techniques learned in the training, and the subject put the firearm down and “got the help he needed,” Sorensen said. “This means to world to me and this entire group.” Many law enforcement officers in Logan and Champaign counties have been through this program, which requires the officers to be able to recognize behavioral health crises, engage with the person in crisis, de-escalate the situation and determine the best way to get the person appropriate care. The MHDAS Board recently utilized grant funding to feature billboards with the message, “A CIT intervention team officer saved my life,” to share the program with the public, including a billboard located just south of Bellefontaine along U.S. Route 68. (EXAMINER PHOTO | MANDY LOEHR)