A new mental health liaison will help Midcoast police officers deal with those in crisis.
It’s part of a national trend of police agencies hiring liaisons who are trained in de-escalation and can be better suited to interact with someone struggling with a mental health crisis, reducing the likelihood of use of force and arrest.
Brunswick police and the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office used Maine’s $235 million share of national opioid settlements to pay for Sweetser liaison Michael Maudlin, who will be based in the Brunswick Police Department and respond to calls with police in Brunswick, Bath, Topsham and the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office.
“We’ve seen this model work extremely well, and now it will be deployed throughout the Midcoast,” Jessica LeBlanc, Sweetser’s senior director of crisis and adult residential services, said in a statement. “When law enforcement is called, Sweetser hopes to put treatment, support and hope on the forefront of community engagement in situations where behavioral health professionals might be best suited to respond.”
Sweetser, a Saco-based nonprofit mental health service agency, has liaisons embedded with a host of police agencies across Maine.
One in four fatal police interactions in the United States involves someone with severe mental illness, according to the Treatment Advocacy Center. People in a mental health crisis are more likely to encounter police than get medical attention, resulting in 2 million people being jailed each year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
“Law enforcement can’t do it alone,” Brunswick police Chief Scott Stewart said in a statement. “We are looking forward to how we can better protect and serve our area with the added capacity and outside expertise to address the mental health needs of our community.”
Earlier this month, Brunswick police subdued a man having a mental health crisis at an apartment complex. In August, Bath police subdued a knife-wielding man who threatened himself and others. South Portland police recently credited their mental health liaison with saving a suicidal woman’s life.
Maine officials have been debating what to do with the opioid settlement money; some of it has already been spent on expanding family drug court and purchasing naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal agent, for law enforcement agencies.
“It’s the best use of these funds to send back out in our communities to provide critical services that address the crisis we are currently experiencing,” Sagadahoc County Sherriff Joel Merry said in a statement.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
