AHPD takes action in support of the IACP One Mind Campaign

Auburn Hills Police Department is pleased to announce that we have pledged to take action in support of the One Mind Campaign, with the intent to unite local communities, public safety organizations, and mental health organizations in such a way that the three become “of one mind.”

The One Mind Campaign seeks to ensure successful interactions between police officers and persons with mental illness. To join the campaign, the department has committed to implementing four promising practices over a 12–36 month timeframe. These four strategies include

1. establishing a clearly defined and sustainable partnership with one or more community mental health organization(s),
2. developing and implementing a model policy addressing police response to persons affected by mental illness,
3. training and certifying 100 percent of the agency’s sworn officers in Mental Health First Aid for Public Safety, and
4. providing Crisis Intervention Team training to a minimum of 20 percent of the agency’s sworn officers.

Responding to calls where one or more persons is affected by mental illness is an everyday occurrence. We want to provide our officers with the highest quality training, and strategies possible to assist them in finding the best possible outcomes for the affected individual.

We acknowledge the need to recognize and address recent societal, cultural, and technological changes that impact law enforcement responses to persons with mental illness. The strategies that the department has pledged to adopt create a unique opportunity to form a partnership with mental health organizations in the community. The committed efforts of both law enforcement agencies and the mental health community to reduce officer and civilian fatalities and injuries resulting
from encounters between law enforcement officials and persons with mental illness are of critical importance. Pledging to support the One Mind Campaign is the first step towards creating a safer community for all.

To date we are well underway in achieving the four strategies. We appreciate the support of Oakland County Community Mental Health who has committed to assisting us in bringing Mental Health First Aid training for police to Oakland County. Many departments are held back by the training commitment of 40 hours for Crisis Intervention Team training. Their training funding just doesn’t make it possible to send people to training and at the same time staff their patrols. Mental Health First Aid is a less of a time commitment and agencies will be able to train-the-trainer for their own departments.

For more information on the One Mind Campaign visit http://www.theiacp.org/onemindcampaign. A copy of the full report, Improving Police Response to Persons Affected by Mental Illness, links to additional resources and a list of all agencies that have taken the pledge is also available on the website.

This post was originally published on June 28, 2017 on Director Olko’s blog.