Perspectives of people with mental health problems at hot spots: Attitudes and perceptions of safety, crime, and the police

Abstract

People who live in places with high levels of crime and disorder are more likely to experience mental illness compared with those who do not live in these types of place (Weisburd et al., 2018; Weisburd & White, 2019). The increased police presence on high crime streets may also increase the likelihood that these individuals will encounter law enforcement. There is a strong body of literature focused on the relationship between neighborhoods and the physical and mental health of residents (e.g. Arcaya et al., 2016; Duncan & Kawachi, 2018; Leventhal & Brooks‐Gunn, 2003), but there are very few studies that look at the perceptions of people with mental illness directly, particularly as they relate to the environment of the street on which they live and attitudes toward the police. In turn, existing studies generally look at the most serious mental health problems (e.g. schizophrenia), ignoring more common mental health concerns such as post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. This paper uses self‐report data from a large in‐person survey of people who live on crime hot spot and non‐hot spot streets in order to assess attitudes among a broader group of persons with mental health problems. Furthermore, we examine the interaction between living in crime hot spots and non‐hot spots and perceptions of these residents. Our findings in this broader sample confirm earlier studies that identify greater fear and less trust of the police among persons with mental illnesses. At the same time, our findings suggest that fear of crime and perceptions of police are moderated by living in a crime hot spot.

Social determinants of depression among mid-to-older aged Australians: A prospective study of the effects of neighbourhood disadvantage and crime

“…Finally, a strength of this study was its use of reported crime data geocoded to the street address which enabled the assignment of crimes to individual buffers rather than the adoption of administrative boundaries. The finding reported at the 1 km network buffer scale support the limited evidence available that has found associations with increased specificity of measurement of crime exposure beyond the aggregation of administrative boundaries ( Goldberg, White & Weisburd, 2019 ; Weisburd et al, 2018 ). In Australian and other jurisdictions, more authorities should consider making geocoded crime data available for research purposes to enable spatial relationships with mental health outcomes to be uncovered.…”

CIT Training Among Law Enforcement: Does It Work?

“…Law enforcement officers, without specialized medical training, often find themselves in situations involving individuals with mental illness. These encounters result from the fact that officers are frequently the first responders to crises involving mental illness (Goldberg et al 2019). Despite department-regulated training, it is clear that officers are not fully equipped to handle the complexities of mental illness, hence the moniker "street corner psychiatrists."…”

Developing Community Co-designed Scenario-Based Training for Police Mental Health Crisis Response: a Relational Policing Approach to De-escalation

“…Wittmann et al ( 2020 ) found that police encounters were chiefly experienced as positive, respectful, and non-threatening. Other recent research indicates that people with mental illness view police experiences as decidedly negative (Goldberg et al 2019 ; van der Meulen et al 2021 ), which can hinder future help-seeking, trust in police, and perceptions of police legitimacy. Relatedly, families report fear in calling police for assistance during a loved one’s mental health crisis and cite concerns about excessive use of force and lack of police training in responding to mental health crisis (Baker and Pillinger 2020 ; Lavoie 2018 ).…”