Director of Clinical Support Honored with Leston L. Havens Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching

The Cambridge Police Department (CPD) is pleased to announce that Director of Clinical Support, Dr. James Barrett, is the recipient of the 2024 – 2025 Leston L. Havens Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School.

In addition to his duties with CPD, Dr. Barrett is an Assistant Professor of Psychology (part-time) at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School. The Leston L. Havens Teaching Award is meant to recognize those who have made significant contributions in the Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry. This award is broadly construed to include any number of areas of distinction, including superb teaching in clinical, seminar, or research settings; individual supervision or in groups; mentoring, and teachers who have designed or administrated excellent training programs. 

Through his faculty appointment and in his role as Director of Clinical Support at Cambridge Police, Dr. Barrett supervises trainees in psychology and psychiatry. These trainees and Dr. Barrett’s work focuses on providing mental health services to individuals who have been identified as being at-risk for involvement with the legal system. The overall goal is crime reduction and prevention by providing appropriate mental health treatment to vulnerable community members.