Andy Matuszewski

Secretary - Mississippi

Lt. Andy “SKI” Matuszewski has been involved in the emergency service field as a first responder since 1988 making the transition to Law Enforcement from the Fire / EMS role in 1994.

He currently operates as the Accreditation Manager, CIT Program Manager, SWAT Crisis Negotiator & Legislative Liaison for the first accredited Sheriff’s Office in the state of Mississippi. He also taught entry level law enforcement students on the staff of the East Mississippi Public Safety Institute in general Law Enforcement topics with a focus on CIT, ethics, biased based policing & cultural diversity for over a dozen years.  Lt. Matuszewski additionally serves as the President of the Mississippi Division of the Southern States Police Benevolent Assn. where he furthers the interests of some 4800 Law Enforcement Officers at the local, state & federal level. His involvement with this association dates to 1997.

Previously, Lt. Matuszewski served internationally with the US State Department’s International Narcotics & Law Enforcement Bureau on the Police training mission to Iraq ending his time there as the Operations Manager. He continued his overseas service with an assignment to the United Nations Mission to Kosovo (UNMIK) where he served in a dual capacity as a Deputy Regional Contingent Commander as well as the Administrative Chief of the Special Operations Unit. These experiences led him to a deep personal understanding of combat and the associated traumas. Having lost numerous team members while there & since to suicide, he is a passionate advocate for those with mental health issues with a particular interest in the combat affected community.

In 2012, Lt. Matuszewski became one of the first CIT Trainers certified in Mississippi. This led to the creation of the East Mississippi CIT program, which has since become the training site for many other programs in the region. He continues to teach at the CIT courses held in the East MS region and now also travels extensively to assist other CIT programs grow & flourish.  

The overseas experiences, along with his time domestically in law enforcement, and his passion for CIT led Lt. Matuszewski to the Mississippi Law Enforcement Alliance on Peer Support (www.usaleaps.org). He became a member in 2021 where he now combines his love for his fellow officers as well as his background in CIT to better serve the Law Enforcement community which consistently has a higher suicide rate among its members than most any other profession.

This body of work, his lived experience as well as having a developmentally disabled family member is what led Lt. Matuszewski to pursue CIT as a vocation and now to the Board of Directors for CIT International.