RICHMOND, Va. (VIRGINIA MERCURY) - Valley Health in Winchester is piloting a program that can test the effectiveness of a new avenue in Virginia’s mental health resources landscape, Virginia Mercury reports.

Special Conservators of the Peace are armed and unarmed professional personnel authorized by courts to carry out limited law enforcement duties. The idea is that they can take the place of law enforcement officers to accompany people in mental health crises to hospitals. Having launched mid-August, Gov. Glenn Youngkin celebrated the new program on Wednesday.

Sometimes in mental health crises where a person is at a high risk of harming themselves or others, law enforcement is ordered to step in. Patients are escorted to hospitals for evaluations, but this takes time and in some case

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