Police Officers Credited For Helping Man In Distress

COLUMBIA, MD — Howard County police officers are being praised for their response to a Columbia resident who was in distress and threatening suicide.

PFCs Holroyd and Johns of the HCPD's Crisis Intervention Team joined patrol officers on the call for help. Everyone helped calm down the agitated resident and then learned that he had run out of his medication. So PFC Hall reached out to the man's psychiatrist who was able to phone the medication into a pharmacy immediately, according to the police department.

Then Holroyd and Johns drove the man to the pharmacy and paid the co-pay for the medicine out of their own pockets.

"This is just one example of the mental health and crisis-specific work CIT does. In 2025, CIT officers assisted patrol on calls like this one for 320 hours. They made 111 home visits and 673 follow-ups and reviewed more than 2,000 mental health-related reports. CIT also trains other members of the department in crisis intervention and teaches de-escalation and mental health first aid to community partners and other organizations," the Howard County Police Department stated.