Police Encounters Involving Citizens With Mental Illness: Use of Resources and Outcomes

Abstract

Objective: Few studies have addressed use of resources in police interventions involving individuals with mental illness. The time police officers spend on interventions is a straightforward measure with significant administrative weight, given that it addresses human resource allocation. This study compared the characteristics of police interventions involving individuals with mental illness and a control sample of individuals without mental illness. Methods: A total of 6,128 police interventions in Montreal, Québec, were analyzed by using a retrospective analysis of police intervention logs from three days in 2006. Interventions involving citizens with (N=272) and without (N=5,856) mental illness were compared by reason for the intervention, the use of arrest, and the use of police resources. Results: Police interventions involving individuals with mental illness were less likely than those involving individuals without mental illness to be related to more severe offenses. However, interventions for minor offenses were more likely to lead to arrest when they involved citizens with mental illness. Interventions for reasons of equal severity were twice as likely to lead to arrest if the citizen involved had a mental illness. After controlling for the use of arrest and the severity of the situation, the analysis showed that police interventions involving individuals with mental illness used 87% more resources than interventions involving individuals without mental illness. Conclusions: Future studies using administrative police data sets could investigate the use of resources and division of costs involved in new programs or partnerships to better address the interface of criminal justice and mental health care.

Effectiveness of current policing‐related mental health interventions: A systematic review

“…Novak & Engel, ; Engel et al, ). However, other studies indicate that for offences of equal severity, a person with mental illness is twice as likely to be arrested (Charette et al, ). Police officers themselves are often troubled by encounters with people with mental illnesses – for example, they take much more time than other calls for service, typically involve repeat contacts with the same individuals and occasionally involve volatile situations.…”

The crime, mental health, and economic impacts of prearrest diversion of people with mental health problems: A systematic review

“…Estimates in the United Kingdom suggest that up to 40% of police time involves a mental health element (Home Affairs Select Committee, ). People with mental health problems are more likely to become victims of crime compared with the general population (Pettitt et al, ) and more likely to be arrested for minor offences (Charette, Crocker, & Billette, ). Within police custody, small‐scale studies suggest that up to 39% of individuals have some kind of mental illness (McKinnon, Thomas, Noga, & Senior, : 218).…”

Co‐responding police–mental health programmes: Service user experiences and outcomes in a large urban centre

“…In the absence of adequate community mental health crisis services, police officers have become a central component of mental health crisis‐response systems in many jurisdictions, raising concerns about potential unnecessary arrests (Charette et al . ; Crocker et al . ), use of force (Rossler & Terrill ), and escorts to hospital (Derrick et al .…”

“…In the absence of adequate community mental health crisis services, police officers have become a central component of mental health crisis-response systems in many jurisdictions, raising concerns about potential unnecessary arrests (Charette et al 2014;Crocker et al 2009), use of force (Rossler & Terrill 2016), and escorts to hospital (Derrick et al 2015). Some service users report poor treatment by police officers, creating a negative crisis-response experience and generating mistrust in subsequent police interactions (Watson et al 2008).…”