We applaud the joint efforts of The Providence Center and the Warwick Police to put clinically trained practicioners together for police calls. Some officers would argue that having a trained social worker along on “calls for service,” as police emergencies are officially called, would put the worker at risk, but most of them would agree that many of the calls they get could use someone who can tell the difference between someone who is just a pain in the…well, whatever, and a seriously ill individual who could pose a risk to his or her self and the people around them.

Most beat-wise cops can tell when the person he is confronting needs to be dealt with, skills not usually taught in police training. Even if he or she does have some training, they know that other people have better training in mental health issues and can probably diffuse a tense situation with a few words to calm a distraught person.

On top of that, the very sight of the “tools of the trade” of a police officer can intimidate and provoke a mentally ill subject and create a panic reaction when a few kind words might put an unsettled mind to rest. Having someone who has extensive experience with distraught people on hand can bring about a quiet resolution to a potentially explosive situation.

Over the past few decades, we have seen a steady rate of professional enhancement among police officers in general. Violence against women, once considered none of a police officer’s business, has become one of the foremost concerns of the cop on the beat. In past decades, women and even families have died because police were not encouraged to “get involved.” Now police have to separate couples in spite of their assurances that it was “just an argument” or “it was my fault.” Violence within families is a huge problem, and it will not go away anytime soon, but at least now police are allowed to separate two partners when there is even the slightest possibly of “an argument” flaring up again to a lethal incident. And that is because police were trained to treat domestic violence as a crime and were trained to recognize when it is likely to occur.

Pairing mental health professionals with police is just formalizing what good cops have been doing all along, which is turning their experience into insight and getting better at their jobs. This new program accelerates the learning curve and promises to provide us with police officers that know that the gun and the nightstick are not always the best tools for keeping the peace.