Police Use Kindness, Not Handcuffs, To Ease Distress: Report

HYATTSVILLE, MD — De-escalation training helped Hyattsville police calm "a man in psychological distress" on March 13, an incident report said.

When the man suddenly sat on the ground, officer Edgar Andrickson-Franco noted that he sat right there with him. Police added that the two chatted until the man let Andrickson-Franco and his partner, Mancini Gaskill, call his family for help.

The encounter came three days before the City of Hyattsville Police Department started its Mental Health and Wellness Program. The initiative would require officers and dispatchers to visit a psychologist four times per year to destigmatize asking for help, NBC Washington reported. Journalist Aimee Cho explained that the effort would also teach police how to handle mental health calls.

"It's not an everyday situation [where] you have to arrest somebody," Andrickson-Franco told NBC. "That's not our job. Our job is to help."

To learn more about the situation and how Hyattsville is training its officers, check out NBC Washington's full story.

Have a story idea? Please contact me at jacob.baumgart@patch.com with any pitches, tips or questions. Follow me on Twitter @JacobBaumgart and on Facebook @JacobBaumgartJournalist to stay up-to-date with the latest Anne Arundel County and Prince George's County news.