A POLICE force has finished training its armed officers in a new approach towards people with mental health problems.
Sergeant Jon Dowd, of Northumbria Police, came up with a course to help firearms officers and negotiators.
It won him a Queen's Award for Innovation in Police Training and Development earlier this year - one of only three a year given out nationally every year.
The course covers areas such as mental health legislation, suicide, self-harm prevention, personality disorders and anger management.
Research by Sgt Dowd for his PhD showed that officers had a 55 per cent improvement in their ability to assess situations - an area particularly important for firearms officers and hostage negotiators.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article