Police deepens cooperation with crisis service

The aim is to link police officers even more closely with psychosocial crisis support during difficult operations. (Symbolic image)

Police officers in Berlin are to be trained to deal even more effectively with people in exceptional mental health situations in future.

To this end, the police signed a new cooperation agreement with the six sponsors of the Berliner Krisendienst (Berlin Crisis Service), as was announced. The aim is to link police officers even more closely with psychosocial crisis support during difficult operations. This will enable people in acute emergency situations to be supported more efficiently and professionally.

Special focus on police training and continuing education

Above all, the cooperation focuses on integrating crisis services into police training and continuing education. The aim is to familiarize police officers even more closely with the services available for dealing with exceptional psychological situations such as suicide situations. A qualified crisis service is to be integrated at an early stage in police operations. The joint approach will enable trained personnel to be called in more quickly to support people in mental health crises. The cooperation agreement between the police and the crisis service, which was concluded in 2011, has now been revised and renewed.