Per the Rockville City Police Department: Rockville City Police is pleased to welcome our new Mental Health Specialist, Ms. Beth Loftus. As RCPD’s first Mental Health Specialist, Beth is assigned to the Special Operations Division where she serves as a resource when police officers encounter people in the community with mental health issues. This includes assisting officers in identifying how to best serve individuals and families, and connecting them with resources provided by the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services.
For the past 10 years, Beth has been a Clinical Therapist at the Montgomery County Crisis Center on Piccard Drive and has functioned in a variety of capacities assisting individuals and families with homelessness, domestic violence, Montgomery County Public Schools school referrals and mental health evaluations.
Prior to coming to RCPD, Beth was a member of the Montgomery County Mobile Crisis Team, which provides a mental health professional 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to partner with police, when necessary, in responding to psychiatric emergencies. The team provides crisis evaluation and recommends treatment and resources. She serves as a Crisis Intervention Instructor for the Montgomery County Crisis Intervention Training program, educating law enforcement about mental health issues, and was named the Montgomery County Crisis Intervention Instructor of the Year in 2019.
Beth holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology, with a minor in sociology, from Catholic University and earned a master’s in clinical counseling and a post-master’s certificate in play therapy from John Hopkins University. In the past 10-plus years, her focus has been in training around crisis intervention, suicide prevention and de-escalation. She continues to educate herself to stay current with best practices and updated research. She is Montgomery County native and is invested in providing mental health services and access to much needed resources to our Rockville community.
We are excited to welcome her to RCPD and look forward to her being a part of this new initiative within our agency.