Ashland Police Department recognized with excellence in mental health award

Ashland – The Ashland Police Department has been recognized with the Excellence in Mental Health Award for its commitment to improving how officers respond to individuals experiencing mental health crises.

The award was presented through the VitAL initiative during the Alabama Police Chiefs Conference and recognizes departments that demonstrate leadership in training officers to respond effectively to mental health-related calls.

Since 2022, the Ashland Police Department has partnered with VitAL to provide Mental Health First Aid training to officers and other first responders. The department has hosted five training sessions, reaching a total of 51 participants. In addition to training its own personnel, Ashland opened these sessions to first responders from neighboring agencies, expanding the program’s impact across the region.

Mental Health First Aid training equips first responders with tools to recognize signs of mental health challenges, de-escalate crisis situations, and connect individuals with appropriate resources.

“The Ashland Police Department recognizes that calls involving persons living with mental illness, substance use issues, traumatic brain injury, and other health concerns that can lead to crisis is on the rise,” said Joseph Stanford, Chief of the Ashland Police Department. “We partnered with VitAL starting in 2022 to deploy officers within our city and surrounding areas with the ability to recognize and differentiate between a mental health crisis and other types of emergencies.

“Since that time, we have hosted trainings and the officers who have attended state that the training has been beneficial in assessing situations and using available resources to prevent calls from escalating. Many have said that it was some of the best training they had ever received,” Stanford said.

In addition to Mental Health First Aid training, the department has continued strengthening its response to community needs by hiring a mental health liaison and building partnerships with local mental health providers.

“As new employees come on board, those will receive the same Mental Health First Aid training, and we look forward to partnering with VitAL in the future,” Stanford added.

The Excellence in Mental Health Award was presented by Jessica Hoggle, Project Manager for VitAL’s Project Support initiative, which provides Mental Health First Aid training to first responders across Alabama.