Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Impact of Mental Health Resources on Police Officer Action

  • Published:
Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Concern over interactions between the police and public is more prevalent today than ever before. Specifically, the number of interactions between the police and individuals with mental health disorders (MHD) has increased as the resources from the mental health systems continue to decrease. To better understand these interactions, this paper focuses on police response to mental health calls for service (MHCFS), with specific attention to resources available for officers. Using factorial surveys, police responses from departments across the USA were analyzed using hierarchical linear mixed modeling. The results suggest the availability of mental health resources are significant predictors in the actions taken by police. Implications are clear, police require more mental health-related resources available to them at the scene.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Atkins S, Burkhardt B, Lanfear C, Amorim M, Stevens K (2014) Law enforcement response to people with mental illnesses in Benton County. Retrieved from http://www.co.benton.or.us/da/wcjc/documents.php Google Scholar. Accessed Dec 2016

  • Anakwenze U, Zuberi D (2013) Mental health and poverty in the inner city. Health & Social Work 38(3):147–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auspurg K, Hinz T (2016) Factorial survey experiments. Sage, Los Angeles, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Bachman R, Schutt RK (2010) The practice of research in criminology and criminal justice. SAGE Inc., Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Banks D, Hendrix J, Hickman M, Kyckelhahn T (2016) National sources of law enforcement employment data (Report No. NCJ249681). Bureau of Justice Statistics. U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergner RM, Bunford N (2017) Mental disorder is a disability concept, not a behavioral one. Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology 24(1):25–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bittner E (1967) Police discretion in emergency apprehension of mentally ill persons. Soc Probl 14(3):278–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borum R, Deane MW, Steadman HJ, Morrissey J (1998) Police perspectives on responding to mentally ill people in crisis: perceptions of program effectiveness. Mental Health Law & Policy Faculty Publications 16:393–405

    Google Scholar 

  • Bower DL, Pettit GW (2001) Albuquerque Police Department’s crisis intervention team: a report card. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin 70(2):1–6

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman TG, Cotton DH (2010) Reducing risk and improving outcomes of police interactions with people with mental illness. Journal of Police Crisis Negotiations 10:39–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Constantine R, Andel R, Petrilea J, Becker M, Robst J, Teague G, Howe A (2010) Characteristics and experiences of adults with a serious mental illness who were involved in the criminal justice system. Psychiatr Serv 64(5):451–457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper JA (2012) Examining the diffusion of police arrests across urban space: territoriality, the police role, and isomorphism (Doctoral dissertation). (UMI No. 3517979). ProQuest, Ann Arbor

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper VG, Mclearen AM, Zapf PA (2004) Dispositional decisions with the mentally ill: police perceptions and characteristics. Police Q 7(3):295–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cotton D, Coleman TG (2010) Canadian police agencies and their interactions with persona with a mental illness: a systems approach. Police Pract Res 11(4):301–314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dupont R, Cochran S (2000) Police response to mental health emergencies—barriers to change. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 28(3):338–344

    Google Scholar 

  • Fields A (2016) Discovering statistics using SPSS, 4th edn. SAGE Inc., Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamm L, Hutchison L, Bellamy G, Dabney BJ (2002) Rural healthy people 2010: identifying rural health priorities and models for practice. J Rural Health 18(1):9–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helfgott JB, Hickman MJ, Labossiere AP (2016) A descriptive evaluation of the Seattle Police Department’s crisis response team officer/mental health professional partnership pilot program. Int J Law Psychiatry 44:109–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horspool K, Drabble SJ, O’Cathain A (2016) Implementing street triage: a qualitative study of collaboration between police and mental health services. BMC psychiatry 16(1):313–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyland SS, Davis E (2019) Local police departments, 2016: Personnel. (Report No. NCJ252835). Bureau of Justice Statistics. U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jachimowski KG (2018) Police response to mental health calls for service. Theses and Dissertations (All) 1575 https://knowledge.library.iup.edu/etd/1575

  • Jaffe D. J. (2011). Still mentally ill, and still dangerous: court-ordered treatment for the disturbed needs to be fixed. Daily News. https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/mentally-ill-dangerous-court-ordered-treatment-disturbed-fixed-article-1.141980. Accessed Jan 2017

  • Jennings WG, Hudak EJ (2005) Police responses to persons with mental illness. In: Dunham RG, Alpert GP (eds) Critical issues in policing: contemporary readings, 5th edn. Waveland, Long Grove, IL, pp 115–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Lord VB, Bjerregaard B (2014) Helping persons with mental illness: partnerships between police and mobile crisis units. Vict Offenders 9:455–474. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2013.878263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maas CJ, Hox JJ (2005) Sufficient sample sizes for multilevel modeling. Methodology 1(3):86–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morabito MS, Kerr AN, Watson A, Draine J, Ottati V, Angell B (2012) Crisis intervention teams and people with mental illness: exploring the factors that influence the use of force. Crime Delinq 58(1):57–77. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128710372456

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan G (1998) Images of organization. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Grady M, Mueller CD, Wilensky GR (2002) Essential research issues in rural health: the state rural health directors’ perspective. Policy Analysis Brief W Series 5(1):1–4

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Payne BK, Oliver WM, Marion NE (2015) Introduction to criminal justice: a balanced approach. SAGE Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Ringhoff D, Rapp L, Robst J (2012) The criminalization hypothesis: practice and policy implications for persons with serious mental illness in the criminal justice system. Best Pract Ment Health 8(2):1–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Ritter C, Teller JL, Marcussen K, Munetz MR, Teasdale B (2011) Crisis intervention team officer dispatch, assessment, and disposition: interactions with individuals with severe mental illness. Int J Law Psychiatry 34(1):30–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruiz J, Miller C (2004) An exploratory study of Pennsylvania police officers’ perceptions of dangerousness and their ability to manage persons with mental illness. Police Q 7(3):359–371. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611103258957

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steadman HJ, Deane MW, Borum R, Morrissey JP (2000) Comparing outcomes of major models of police responses to mental health emergencies. Psychiatr Serv 51(5):645–649

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart J, Ayres R (2001) Systems theory and policy practice: an exploration. Policy Sci 34:79–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taheri SA (2014) Do crisis intervention teams reduce arrests and improve officer safety? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Crim Justice Policy Rev 27(1):76–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teller JLS, Munetz M, Gil KM, Ritter C (2006) Crisis intervention team training for police officers responding to mental disturbance calls. Psychiatr Serv 57(2):232–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torrey, E. F., Kennard, A. D., Eslinger, D., Lamb, R., & Pavle, J. (2010). More mentally ill persons are in jail and prisons than hospitals: a survey of the states. Treatment Advocacy Center and National Sheriffs Association

  • Varelius J (2009) Defining mental disorder in terms of our goals for demarcating mental disorder. Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology 16(1):32–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaughan, A. (2011, November). Policing the mentally ill: a systems theory approach. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Washington D.C., Abstract retrieved from citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research-citation/5/2/3/8/0/p523803_index.html

  • Watson AC, Morabito MS, Draine J, Ottati V (2008) Improving police response to persons with mental illness: a multi-level conceptualization of CIT. Int J Law Psychiatry 31(4):359–368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2008.06.004

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Watson AC, Ottati VC, Draine J, Morabito M (2011) CIT in context: the impact of mental health resource availability and district saturation on call dispositions. Int J Law Psychiatry 34(4):287–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood JD, Watson AC, Fulambarker AJ (2017) The “gray zone” of police work during mental health encounters: findings from an observational study in Chicago. Police Q 20(1):81–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Saint Vincent College, 300 Fraser Purchase Rd., Latrobe, PA, 15605, USA

    Kayla G. Jachimowski & Ryan J. Lemmon

  2. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 411 N. Walk, Indiana, PA, 15705, USA

    Carley J. Smathers & Lindsey N. Smathers

Authors
  1. Kayla G. Jachimowski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Carley J. Smathers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lindsey N. Smathers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ryan J. Lemmon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kayla G. Jachimowski.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of Interest

There are no conflicts of interest regarding this manuscript. It is not pending publication in any other journal or outlet.

Human and Animals Rights

This research involves human research participants and was approved through the Indiana University of Pennsylvania IRB in July of 2017.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was approved during the IRB application and has been attached to this statement below.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jachimowski, K.G., Smathers, C.J., Smathers, L.N. et al. The Impact of Mental Health Resources on Police Officer Action. J Police Crim Psych 36, 193–203 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-020-09395-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-020-09395-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation