Mental health training and consultation with suburban police.

A community mental health consultation and education program with 10 suburban police departments has helped foster the development of an awareness of mental health issues on the part of police officers and their chiefs and increased their orientation toward prevention of problems before they arise. The keys to success in this project have been flexibility in the application of consultation and training modalities, a willingness to view the world through the police officers' eyes, and the cooperative involvement of officers and their chiefs in all phases of program planning.