The State of Texas Crisis Intervention Team Association (Texas CIT) named Grapevine Police Detective Christina O’Rear the 2022 Mental Health Peace Officer of the Year. The award was announced during the association’s annual convention in South Padre Island on Friday, April 29, 2022. 

Detective Christina O’Rear is the primary liaison between the Grapevine Police Department and MHMR resources and hospitals in north Texas. In recent years, she recognized a need to stay in contact with individuals and families dealing with mental crises after police cases were done, and initiated audits of her department’s police reports to ensure any MHMR-related calls were coded with MHMR. Detective O’Rear then confirmed follow-ups were made on each case.

Detective O’Rear was personally selected by Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne to serve on the Law Enforcement Advisory Board, which consists of various police chiefs and four officers statewide. O’Rear serves on the Steering Committee for the Law Enforcement Mental Health Alliance of North Texas, where she helps get resources and training to first responders. She is also a member of the Tarrant County Law Enforcement Mental Health Stakeholder Committee, where she works to improve mental health services for citizens and officers.

May is nationally recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month, which aims to bring awareness to the issue and also remind people in crisis that there are agencies and experts ready and willing to help them. The Grapevine Police Department is extremely proud of the continued work done by Detective Christina O’Rear to help individuals and families, and appreciates the recognition by Texas CIT.