The Anne Arundel Team was awarded the “International Crisis Intervention Team of the Year” by the Crisis Intervention Team International. 

The Anne Arundel Crisis Response Team is a collaboration between a county police unit and county mental health agency who jointly respond to calls in which people are suffering from a behavioral health crisis in order to divert them from the criminal justice system and into proper treatment and resources.

The Capital Gazette reports:

Lt. Steve Thomas, coordinator of the police element of the unit, said in an April interview with The Capital that it deals in routine behavioral health issues, like drug addiction or depression, but also tragedies that “shock your conscience” like child suicides and deadly barricades. The specially-trained police officers are dispatched along with a mental health professional from the county agency.

For more information:

Anne Arundel police crisis response team named best ‘on the planet’ (Capital Gazette)