Police officers who work for the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services were issued guns this week.

As News 12 reported back in January, state officials gave DMHAS officers permission to carry guns following a series of incidents involving gunfire at the DMHAS facility in Bridgeport. Before that, the officers had not been allowed to carry firearms.

Officers say they were assigned their weapons in Middletown earlier this week. A spokesperson says the officers are grateful for the policy change.

The officers are still not permitted to carry weapons in areas where patients are seen. They say they plan to press state officials to revise that policy so they can carry their guns everywhere their jobs take them, excluding locked psychiatric units.