For Immediate Release

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Boxborough Police to Participate in the One Mind Campaign

BOXBOROUGH — Chief Warren B. Ryder is pleased to announce that the Boxborough Police Department has pledged its support to the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s One Mind Campaign.

The One Mind Campaign aims to ensure successful interactions between police officers and persons with mental illness by uniting local communities, public safety organizations and mental health organizations as “one mind.”

To join the campaign, Boxborough Police have committed to implimenting four new practices over the next one to three years:

• Establish a clearly defined and sustainable partnership with one or more community mental health organizations.
• Develop and implement a model policy that addresses police response to persons affected by mental illness.
• Train and certify all of the agency’s sworn officers and selected non-sworn staff, such as dispatchers, in mental health first aid for public safety.
• Provide crisis intervention team training to a minimum of 20 percent of the agency’s sworn officers and selected non-sworn staff, like dispatchers.

“Our number one priority is public safety, so it is vital that we recognize and address safety concerns for both law enforcement and residents when dealing with incidents that involve mental illness,” Chief Ryder said. “Through our pledge to support the One Mind Campaign, our department will implement several initiatives to ensure that we are prepared to respond to incidents involving our more vulnerable population and to provide resources to those who need help.”

For more information about the One Mind Campaign, visit theiacp.org/onemindcampaign.

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