Amy C. Watson

Amy C. Watson, PhD, is a professor at Helen Bader School of Social Welfare at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Watson has worked extensively on issues involving the intersection of the criminal legal and mental health systems, in Chicago and around the country. For the past two decades, her research has focused on police encounters with persons with mental illnesses and the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model. Recently, she served on the De-escalation Work Group of the Chicago Police Accountability Task Force and serves on the Mayor’s Mental Health Steering Committee on an ongoing basis. She serves on the CIT International Board of Directors, currently as president of the organization. Her prior professional experience includes working as a Probation Officer on a team serving clients with serious mental illnesses and as a Forensic Social Worker/Mitigation Specialist working on death penalty cases. She has a BA in Criminal Justice from Aurora University and a AM and PhD from the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration.