CAMBRIDGE, Md. — The Cambridge Police Department has hired its first full-time mental health clinician, a move some officers say is already reshaping the department's culture around officer wellness.
Sue Radcliffe, mental health clinician and clinical social worker, first joined the department part time in February. This month, she transitioned to a full-time role and is now available to officers 24/7.
Radcliffe said supporting officers' mental health ultimately benefits the community they serve.
"When we have healthy officers, we can have healthy interactions with the community," Radcliffe said. "They're our first responders, and we need to help them so that they can better help our community members. So if they're feeling good, interactions with the community will be good."
Radcliffe's support takes many forms — from debriefing officers after a tough call to riding along in the patrol car so they can talk through what's on their mind without ever leaving their shift.
According to Radcliffe, officers face two types of trauma on the job: primary trauma, from what they witness firsthand, and secondary trauma, from what they hear about through their work. She says they encounter both every single day.
Detective Sgt. Ed Howard said the addition has been life changing for him and his colleagues.
"You can't go through this profession and not have some level of trauma," Howard said. "And a lot of these officers, including myself, at the beginning of the incident, you might not realize right away that it has traumatized you. And to have that mental health professional that you can confide in, to have that personal one on one conversation with, goes a long way.”
He added that Radcliffe’s presence is changing the way the department views mental health.
“She has taught officers how to handle and process this information and the way the brain works in the human body,” Howard said. “Because at the end of the day, we're human beings, we're not robots, and we process and hold on to things just like everybody else…You can definitely tell a difference, not only myself, but as well as other officers in the administration. She brings a level of energy and kindness to the office that is truly changing the culture within the Cambridge Police Department.”
According to Howard, the average police officer experiences anywhere between eight to 900 critical incidents within their career, whereas the average person experiences roughly one or two through an entire lifetime.
The position is a joint effort between the Dorchester County Health Department and the Cambridge Police Department, funded through a federal law enforcement mental health and wellness grant.
Radcliffe said it's one of only a handful awarded nationwide.
Police Chief Justin Todd said the buy-in from his officers has confirmed just how needed the resource was.
"They have to be on top of their game. They can't afford to get a call and not be ready for whatever may happen," Todd said. "So having that access to that mental health clinician gives them a little bit of extra ability to be able to do that job that they need to do."
Todd also said this addition makes Cambridge one of just a few Eastern Shore agencies with a mental health clinician on staff.
Additionally, Todd said the agency has secured a federal grant from Sen. Van Hollen’s office to launch a co-responder pilot program.
Under the program, the department will partner with a Maryland nonprofit, SANTE, to bring on two licensed social workers who will ride alongside officers and follow up on mental health calls in the community.
“A high percentage of our calls last year had to deal with mental health,” Todd said. “We're not professionals in the mental health field. We can train and we can be taught so many things, but we are not the professionals, such as the social workers are. Having them on staff to be able to provide resources to those people in need, I think it's important and I'm looking forward to it. We're going to be one of the only {ones} on the shore to have that as well.”
Todd said he expects the program to be up and running sometime later this summer.
