A story about the difficulties of de-escalation – With two other officers, I once had to try to urgently ‘de-escalate’ a situation involving a suicidal man – most of us have had to do this at one stage and I’ve done it more than once. All the other efforts, thankfully, were successful, but this one […]

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When I started proper work on the subject of policing and mental health, I had not the first clue where to start – there was no course you could ask to go on.  I came to this agenda originally precisely because of my professional ignorance, but also my uncertainty and my fear – there was […]

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Earlier this month, Royal Assent was given to the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019. This is a very short piece of legislation and it is, as the name suggests, merely amending legislation for the Mental Capacity Act 2005. This post is a taster of what it means for police officers and paramedics in particular, especially […]

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