RICHMOND, Va. — Denise Smith is known as someone who is always stepping in to help.
The former social worker and Virginia Commonwealth University graduate’s passion for people led her to join VCU’s first class of “Safety Ambassadors,” an unarmed task force within its police department that has received special mental health training.
“Our biggest focus is mental health, but we also do other things, like jumpstarts and working overtime assignments in parking decks, just trying to alleviate some of the calls from police,” Smith said. “We are unarmed; we have our words. We do not carry any kind of weapon — no mace, no Taser. That’s the biggest thing, so I feel like we’re a little more approachable.”…