Police and mental health in elementary and secondary schools: A systematic review of the literature and implications for nursing

Abstract

Accessible summaryWhat is known on this subject? Police are often called on to respond to student mental health needs in schools. School nurses, who are part of interdisciplinary mental health teams, may collaborate with responding police officers. Currently, there are no reviews of the literature describing the use of police to respond to mental health crises in schools. What this paper adds to existing knowledge? This systematic review found six articles addressing police response to student mental health needs in elementary and secondary schools. Articles primarily focused on the School Resource Officer programme; however, there was a lack of research on the effectiveness of this and other programmes in addressing the mental health needs of students. This paper highlights a significant gap in knowledge about how police are involved in responding to student mental health crises within schools. What are the implications for practice? Understanding how police respond to mental health crises on school campuses will help nurses serve in collaborative roles with responding officers. This study highlights gaps in research that need to be addressed for researchers and policymakers to best support students in crisis. AbstractIntroductionResponse to student mental health crises involves interdisciplinary school–community teams, which can include police officers. This paper presents the first systematic review of literature on how police address mental health in school settings. Results have implications for school nurses interacting with responding police.Question/AimHow are police involved in responding to student mental health needs in elementary and secondary schools?MethodUsing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) framework, six articles met criteria for inclusion in this review.ResultsTwo themes were identified: (1) descriptions of roles of police in schools and (2) studies presenting programmes or models of police engagement. The most common use of police in schools is through the School Resource Officer model.DiscussionThere are very few studies examining police involvement in mental health response in schools and little data available on whether prevailing models are effective. We are therefore unable to ascertain what impact school police have in responding to mental health crises or the extent to which they interact with school nurses.Implications for practiceUnderstanding mental health crisis responses in schools can inform policy, practice, research and education for police and school providers, including nurses.

A Scoping Review of Police Involvement in School Crisis Response for Mental Health Emergencies

“…This systematic scoping review indicates that is a paucity of evidence-based models for law enforcement involvement in school mental health crisis response. Though in practice it is common for law enforcement officers to be involved in schools, primarily via a school resource officer model (Muller et al, 2021), and to respond to multiple kinds of student crises including mental health crises, this approach has yet to be rigorously evaluated. Contrary to this widely accepted model and generally favorable perceptions of law enforcement involvement in schools among White and suburban parents, research suggests that police contact with youth may have negative associations with mental and academic well-being and that policing may be disproportionately directed at racial and ethnic minority students (Jackson et al, 2019).…”

“…There has been a rapid deterioration of confidence in law enforcement in recent years among adolescents (Fine et al, 2019). A recent systematic review indicated that there appears to be very little empirical research justifying the use of the school resource officer model, though this review was somewhat limited in scope by a focus on school resource officer use in the context of partnership with school nurses (Muller et al, 2021). However, schools continue to rely on law enforcement to respond to a myriad of student crises, including student violence and mental health emergencies.…”

“…These reviews have been inconclusive and inconsistent about outcomes resulting from police crisis response, with a lack of rigorous evaluations of police response models and a lack of research generally on this issue. One recent review examined research on embedded school police and school nurse relationships and also found a lack of evaluation data, except for a small number of descriptive studies of school resource officers (Muller et al, 2021). This review focused primarily on school police models involving partnership with school nurses, and as such, evidence on law enforcement response to crises in schools more generally remains poorly understood.…”