Decriminalizing mental illness: specialized policing responses

Abstract

De-institutionalization of mental health patients has evolved, over nearly 3 generations now, to a status quo of mental health patients experiencing myriad contacts with first-responders, primarily police, in lieu of care. The current institutions in which these patients rotate through are psychiatric emergency units, emergency rooms, jails, and prisons. Although more police are now specially trained to respond to calls that involve mental health patients, the criminalization of persons with mental illness has been steadily increasing over the past several decades. There have also been deaths. The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model fosters mental health acumen among first responders, and facilitates collaboration among first responders, mental health professionals, and mental health patients and their families. Here, we review some modern, large city configurations of CIT, the co-responder model, the mitigating effects of critically situated community-based programs, as well as barriers to the success of joint efforts to better address this pressing problem.

Re‐examining mental health crisis intervention: A rapid review comparing outcomes across police, co‐responder and non‐police models

“…The co‐responder model involves pairing police officers with mental health clinicians, and typically functions as a secondary response (i.e. after police have deemed that the call does not present a threat of violence) (Dempsey et al., 2020). This model varies geographically, and has been implemented in many districts in Canada (Lamanna et al., 2018; Semple et al., 2020), the United States (Morabito et al., 2018), the United Kingdom (Kirubarajan et al., 2018) and Australia (McKenna et al., 2015).…”

“…In some regions, this proportion is increasing (CAMH, 2020), ranging from 3%–16% of total call volumes (Abbott, 2011; Nasser, 2020). The historical period of de‐institutionalisation in the mid‐20th century is one of many factors that have contributed to increased police involvement in crisis intervention (Dempsey et al., 2020; Dunn et al., 2017; Steadman & Morrissette, 2016).…”

Transforming Mental Health And Addiction Services

“…▸ LIMITING CONFRONTATIONS WITH POLICE: The default option for people experiencing behavioral health crises, such as suicidality, homelessness, or drug overdoses, should be a response by mental health clinicians or trained paraprofessionals to deescalate crises, avoid unnecessary police contact, and get people to appropriate care. 31 Social Context And Social Needs Social context (for example, living in poverty, witnessing violence) contributes to negative mental health outcomes and greater prevalence of substance use disorders. That is why people who live and work with behavioral health issues have long advocated for emphasizing the social context as salient in recovery.…”

Defund the Police: Moving Towards an Anti-Carceral Social Work

“…A county-wide mental health crisis response which provides immediate stabilization for urgent medical need or psychological crisis, assessment, information, referral, and advocacy. (Dempsey et al, 2020;Kropf, 2015)…”