The Capital Gazette has commended the Anne Arundel County Police Department for initiating a program to have all their officers receive mental health training. The Capital Gazette opines:

But we are sure the Anne Arundel County Police Department’s decision to give all its officers training in mental health is a good idea — and probably long overdue.

…

So police departments across the country have increasingly insisted their officers get mental health training. By the end of fall, as part of their in-service training, each of the nearly 700 officers in the county department will have taken an eight-hour Mental Health First Aid course led by the director of the county’s Crisis Response System.

The training stems from a general heightened awareness by county police of the effect of mental health issues on their work. The agency has already partnered with licensed clinicians to create a Crisis Intervention Team and has formed a peer support group to help officers in the aftermath of particularly traumatic incidents.

For more information read the full editorial in The Capital Gazette.