Michael Brown BMus, MA, MSc

Michael is the mental health coordinator for the UK National Police Chiefs’ Council and College of Policing – he has been a serving officer with West Midlands Police for 20 years. His work in the UK has prevented tens of thousands of vulnerable people being detained in police custody whilst in mental health crisis and has influenced public policy across policing based on his own operational experience policing in Birmingham. He has commanded a large number of critical incidents involving those of us with mental health problems – including firearms incidents, sieges and multiple homicides.

His use of social media under the moniker ‘MentalHealthCop’ has been internationally award-winning and his blog has been used almost two million times around the world, something for which he was recognised by the UK’s leading mental health charity, Mind. Michael’s blog has since been turned in to official guidelines for policing. He has lectured in forensic mental health and law at several UK universities, and is a Senior Research Fellow at Canterbury Christ Church University. He has given expert in opinion in UK and Australian Coroners’ Courts on police responses to mental health crisis incidents.

Michael was singled out for mention and commendation by the Home Affairs Committee of the UK Parliament after giving evidence to their inquiry into policing and mental health and he has advised the British Government on reform of mental health laws affecting the police. He has worked in Namibia, Iceland and Northern Ireland and is a recipient of the prestigious President’s Medal from the Royal College of Psychiatrists for his “significant contribution to improving the lives of people with mental illness”. In 2016 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in Queen Elizabeth’s 90thBirthday Honours for his services to policing and mental health.