BRUNSWICK, Maine — Some midcoast law enforcement agencies are adding a mental health liaison to their staff as police officers are dealing with an increasing amount of mental health calls.
The community mental health nonprofit Sweetser is partnering with agencies in Brunswick and Sagadahoc County to add a mental health liaison to take a load off of police officers and help support those in the community.
"There's sometimes been a stigma on mental health crisis situations and we're trying to, one more piece, trying to eliminate that," Sweetser liaison Michael Maudlin said. "Every call, every contact is different, and we have to customize the response to that individual situation."
Maudlin started in this role one month ago and is based out of the Brunswick Police Department. He'll also work with the police departments in Bath, Topsham, and the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office.
Brunswick Police Chief Scott Stewart said this new liaison role will alleviate some of the responsibility put on police officers responding to a mental health call.
"It's one thing to tell someone we need to get you some help and it's another thing to tell someone we have someone who is able to help you and here he is," Chief Stewart said. "I've been in law enforcement coming on 34 years now, and the increase in mental health calls has been astronomical."
Chief Stewart said the partnership involves staffing just one liaison as they get the program off the ground, and the liaison, Maudlin, will be shared between the four agencies.
"It does help people get to resources. It gets law enforcement officers into the field doing the things that they need to do to keep the community safe," Jessica LeBlanc, the senior director of crisis and adult residential services for Sweetser, said. "It's helping people not feel stigmatized about mental health services, not feeling like they're doing something wrong when they need help."
Maudlin has prior experience as a police officer and as a social worker, which he said is the perfect experience to fill this role.
"Having been on both sides and on both parts of the equation, I enjoy the fact that I can both communicate with law enforcement and mental health effectively and be that resource for people in the community who have issues, have concerns, have crises that are mental health based," Maudlin said. "That frees up our law enforcement officers to go back in the field and do what they need to do."
Brunswick police and the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office partnered to fund the new position using opioid settlement funds, as the state of Maine is receiving more than $230 million over the next two decades.