Arlington Police Chief Ryan Partakes in NAMI Conference

Photo Credit: Arlington Police Department

ARLINGTON, MA—Arlington Police Chief Fredrick Ryan joined the Massachusetts chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill to advocate for new legislation Monday.

According to a release from the Arlington Police Department, Ryan and the chapter advocated for a bill that would help police and behavioral health officials better serve those with addiction and other mental health issues. The legislation that was filed last month would create Center of Excellence in Community Policing and Behavioral Health to facilitate "cost-effective and evidence-based mental health and substance use crisis response training programs for municipal police officers, the goal of which shall be to decrease the unnecessary arrest and incarceration of people with behavioral health conditions," according to the release.

"It's been so rewarding to watch the cultural change in the organization. Cops did what we trained them to do, they went out and arrested people. When we change our vision and our values, so too changes the culture of the organization," Chief Ryan said while speaking at the conference. "When did you expect to see law enforcement executives standing before the Legislature asking for more treatment services and not more cops? For far too long we've been telling people we can arrest our way out of addiction, we can arrest our way out of mental health disorders. It's not the case."

Ryan was joined by Sen. Jason Lewis, Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian and police officials from Somerville and Cambridge. The proposed center would be modeled after a similar program and Texas, and would provide 40-hour crisis intervention training for officers.

Ryan spoke about the Arlington Outreach Initiative at the conference.

"I am proud to join NAMI in advocating for Senator Lewis' bill," Chief Ryan said in the release. "We have seen the Arlington Outreach Initiative - and similar programs - save lives. It's time to provide this same standard of care to every community."