BRAINTREE — Chief Mark Dubois is pleased to share that the Braintree Police Department has completed its pledge through the One Mind Campaign to improve its response to those suffering from mental health disorders.
In 2017, the Braintree Police Department pledged to join the One Mind Campaign, an initiative that was started by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) in an effort to improve the interactions between law enforcement agencies and those with mental illnesses. Departments that pledge to join the campaign are challenged to implement practices within their agency to improve mental health programming, training and procedures within a one to three year time period.
The IACP also provides resources to departments that pledge to join the One Mind Campaign, including a toolkit produced by the Bureau of Justice Assistance with resources for law enforcement agencies looking to partner with mental health providers, a model policy for law enforcement when responding to persons suffering from mental illness, and resources for planning mental health first aid and crisis intervention team program trainings.
“The Braintree Police Department recognizes that there are so many families and individuals living with behavioral health issues within our community,” said Chief Dubois. “At the time of the department’s pledge, there was a need for more training which would help to prepare our officers to react appropriately in a variety of situations. Through their training, the department has consistently demonstrated their commitment to providing the highest quality of police services to the public. I’m extremely proud of our officers for their dedication to serving their community and for their commitment to their pledge.”
Former Chief Paul Shastany made the decision to join the IACP’s One Mind Campaign to ensure that the department would continuously meet the standard of excellence with respect to treatment of individuals with mental illness. Since arriving in Braintree, Chief Dubois saw the value in this initiative and directed the department to continue on with meeting the requirements to attain the designation.
Since then, the Braintree Police Department has implemented several initiatives to improve its mental health relations, including the establishment of sustainable relationships with the Aspire Health Alliance, Norfolk District Court, Braintree Public Schools, Braintree’s Council on Aging and National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Massachusetts. The department also created and implemented a model policy to address officers’ interactions with those affected by mental illness and mental health awareness and crisis intervention training for all full-time staff.
Additionally, the Braintree Police Department was established as one of the four regional CIT-Technical Training Assistance Centers in the state, and is responsible for training and supporting officers across Norfolk County.
The department would like to recognize Deputy Chief Michael Want, Sgt. Jamie Mosesso, Officer Nate Killefer, Det. Edward Woo, Officer Jay St. Ives and Clinician Megan Scott for their contributions towards the completion of the One Mind Campaign.
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