Improving Police Response to Persons with Mental Illness

Improving Police Response to Persons with Mental Illness
Author: Thomas Joseph Jurkanin
Publisher: Charles C Thomas Publisher
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2007
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0398077789

The Ghostbusters refrain "Who you gonna call?" typically connotes a lighthearted response to an unusual problem, but in the context of a human being suffering a mental health crisis, the refrain is anything but lighthearted. In an ideal world, "who you gonna call" would be a trained mental health professional. In the real world, the cry for help is usually received by the police. Police respond because there is no one else to assist. Police officers rank mental health crisis situations as far more stressful than crimes in progress. A person, suffering from mental illness is, by definition, not fully rational. Although they are likewise not fully irrational, behavior is unpredictable, and unpredictable behavior for the police is potentially dangerous behavior. As a consequence, outcomes of engagement between law enforcement and mental health consumers are too often tragic. No organization is more concerned about inadequate response than the police themselves. Improving Police Response to Mental Illness provides best practices guidance. A national pool of experts provide both insight and recommendations, ranging from the conceptual, Atypical Situations-Atypical Responses, to the pragmatic, Law Enforcement Training Models. Written specifically for the book, each chapter addresses a given critical component, including social policy, police response alternatives, training, legal constraints, and cooperative agreements with mental health service providers. This is an indispensable volume on the subject of police and mental health and is designed for police practitioners, mental health professionals, and scholars of social policy.

Enhancing Police Response to Persons in Mental Health Crisis

Enhancing Police Response to Persons in Mental Health Crisis
Author: Don W. Castellano-Hoyt
Publisher: Charles C Thomas Pub Limited
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2003
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780398074166

This book is written for law enforcement officers in the enhancement of strategies, communication techniques, and crisis intervention preparation when assessing the behavior of those persons considered mentally ill. The public and its institutions continue to demand that law enforcement intervene with persons considered mentally ill by the mental profession. However, the laws enacted are unable to address the deeper philosophic and political controversies within the mental health profession regarding the reality of mental illness, its diagnosis, or its treatment. Officers are in need of a sense of appropriateness when assessing the behavior of someone deemed to be in a mental health crisis; and the sense of appropriateness needs to be grounded in a philosophic outlook that both makes sense and fits today's pluralistic outlook on life and the Nation's premise of the preciousness of civil liberty. This book is written to address these issues. The book is divided into three parts: (1) clinical issues; (2) mental health from a nonclinical perspective; and (3) the national experience in legal terms. Part 1 presents the chapters dealing with assessment and intervention, including strategies, communication techniques, the ideas for overcoming institutional barriers to effective police intervention. Part 2 presents issues of mental health from a nonlegal perspective, and part 3 details the national experience in mental health in legal terms. Each chapter gives an introductory rationale about its usefulness to police.

Police Response to Mental Health in Canada

Police Response to Mental Health in Canada
Author: Uzma Williams
Publisher: Canadian Scholars’ Press
Total Pages: 357
Release: 2019-08-28
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1773381458

The overwhelming majority of police calls involve individuals with mental health experiences and yet limited resources exist to prepare first responders for these interactions. Police Response to Mental Health in Canada addresses this gap in the field, providing practical guidance to police studies students on how best to respond to mental health-related calls in both critical and non-critical situations.In addition, this book focuses on the mental health of policing professionals by addressing common mental health symptoms and providing strategies to improve the mental health wellness of policing professionals. Aligned with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, (DSM-5) criteria, this text provides in-depth explanations of the mental health conditions commonly encountered in policing, including mood, psychosis, personality, substance abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorders. Written in an accessible style, this book includes pedagogical tools such as scenario-based learning, case studies, reflection questions, group activities, and chapter summaries to reinforce the learning objectives outlined at the start of each chapter. With the increasing demand for law enforcement officials to be better informed and prepared to interact with those experiencing mental health issues, this is a timely resource for students in college and university police studies programs. FEATURES: - Learning objectives, case studies, and discussion questions - Contributions from leaders in fields of health services, psychology, criminology, policing, and corrections - Discussion of Canadian issues that are relevant across the country, including police relations with Indigenous populations and incidents of gang-related violence

Police Response to Mental Health Calls for Service

Police Response to Mental Health Calls for Service
Author: Kayla G Jachimowski
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2020-10
Genre:
ISBN: 9781793601742

"This book explores the impact that training has on officer decision-making during calls for service where an individual has a mental health disorder, from both an empirical and historical perspective"--

Policing and Mental Health

Policing and Mental Health
Author: John McDaniel
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2020-02-25
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0429895062

This book explores the relationship between policing and mental health. Police services around the world are innovating at pace in order to develop solutions to the problems presented, and popular models are being shared internationally. Nevertheless, disparities and perceptions of unfairness remain commonplace. Innovations remain poorly funded and largely unproven. Drawing together the insights of eminent academics in the UK, the US, Australia and South Africa, the edited collection evaluates the condition of mental health and policing as an interlocked policy area, uncovering and addressing a number of key issues which are shaping police responses to mental health. Due to a relative lack of academic texts pertaining to developments in England and Wales, the volume contains a distinct section on relevant policies and practices. It also includes sections on US and Australian approaches, focusing on Crisis Intervention Teams (CITs), Mental Health Intervention Teams (MHITs), stressors and innovations from Boston in the US to Queensland in Australia. Written in a clear and direct style, this book will appeal to students and scholars in policing, criminology, sociology, mental health, cultural studies, social theory and those interested in learning about the condition and trajectory of police responses to mental health.

Decriminalizing Mental Illness

Decriminalizing Mental Illness
Author: Katherine Warburton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 411
Release: 2021-01-07
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1108826954

An in-depth examination of the factors contributing to the criminalization of mental illness and strategies to combat them.

Mental Disorder and Crime

Mental Disorder and Crime
Author: Sheilagh Hodgins
Publisher: SAGE Publications, Incorporated
Total Pages: 400
Release: 1992-12-29
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780803950238

Contributors to this volume present and discuss new data which suggest that major mental disorder substantially increases the risk of violent crime. These findings come at a crucial time, since those who suffer from mental disorders are increasingly living in the community, rather than in institutions. The book describes the magnitude and complexity of the problem and offers hope that humane, effective intervention can prevent violent crime being committed by the seriously mentally disordered.

The Criminalization of Mental Illness

The Criminalization of Mental Illness
Author: Risdon N. Slate
Publisher:
Total Pages: 560
Release: 2021
Genre: Insanity (Law)
ISBN: 9781531004422

"For a myriad of reasons the criminal justice system has become the de facto mental health system in the United States. The third edition of The Criminalization of Mental Illness thoroughly explains these reasons, and describes in detail specialized law enforcement responses to people with mental illness (PWMI), mental health courts, jails and prison conditions, and discharge planning for this group. The third edition also includes examples of crises involving PWMI that end up driving policy, examines how therapeutic jurisprudence can be utilized to improve responses to PWMI and to ameliorate the inhumane and costly recycling of PWMI through the criminal justice system, and provides insight from criminal justice practitioners, in their own words, about the challenges both PWMI and practitioners face in the system and efforts to overcome them. This edition also examines the tension throughout the system when attempting to balance public safety and civil liberties. The concept of defunding the police and the impact of the Affordable Care Act on PWMI are considered as well"--

Psychiatric Crisis Response Systems

Psychiatric Crisis Response Systems
Author: Beth A. Stroul
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 113
Release: 1999-06
Genre:
ISBN: 0788175734

This document reports on a descriptive study of mental health crisis response systems. It was sponsored by the Center for Mental Health Services as part of its continuing effort to support knowledge development & dissemination relevant to critical aspects of mental health service delivery for persons with long-term mental illness. Chapters: overview of mental health crisis services; telephone crisis services; walk-in crisis services; mobile outreach crisis services; residential crisis services; inpatient crisis services; selected references; & list of respondent communities & agencies by State. Seven exhibits & thirty tables.

Police Responses to People with Mental Illnesses

Police Responses to People with Mental Illnesses
Author: Duncan Chappell
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 113
Release: 2014-07-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317977157

According to the World Health Organisation during their lifetime more than one quarter of all individuals will develop one or more mental or behavioural disorders. Given prevalence data like this it is not surprising that wherever they reside on the planet many persons suffering from a mental disorder, or as is more commonly termed in popular parlance a mental illness, are likely to come into contact with police at some stage in their lives. Indeed, research conducted in a number of countries suggests that about 10 per cent of all community police work involves some form of interaction with a person with a mental illness. From a police perspective these encounters are not only frequent but also often sensitive and challenging. Despite the difficulties associated with this important aspect of community policing surprisingly scant attention has been given to the development of empirically tested and established best practice approaches to managing police interactions with persons with mental illnesses. The literature that does exist is principally derived from North American sources although more recent and interesting developments have been reported in Australia and the United Kingdom. The principal aim of Police Responses to People with Mental Illnesses is to seek to reduce this gap in the literature by providing an international overview of some of the latest research and policy developments in the field, and the challenges still to be confronted in many places in overcoming cultural and associated barriers to protecting the rights of the mentally ill. This book was originally published as a special issue of Police Practice and Research: An International Journal.