Mental Health Training for Law Enforcement

Since the 1970s a movement has brought the mentally ill from institutions back into the community, a process called deinstitutionalization. While deinstitutionalization changed the course of mental health treatment, it has also meant that law enforcement officials have to deal with more mental health crises. Unfortunately not all cities have prepared for these changed responsibilities and law enforcement personnel may need more training in dealing with the mentally ill.

Community

• Numerous events of the 1960s enabled more mentally ill to live in the community, from the 1963 Community Mental Health Centers Act to the establishment of Supplemental Security Income. While these changes gave the mentally ill more independence, it has also made communities more aware mental health challenges.

Crises

• One of the hallmarks of mental illness is a greater tendency toward experiencing serious crises, including suicide attempts, substance abuse violations and domestic violence. Law enforcement officials have the legal obligation to try to prevent such situations from escalating and resulting in injuries or damages.

Help

• Most communities have emergency hotlines, such as 9-1-1, that people call for crisis response at any time of day or night. In the event of a mental health crisis, police officers can try to calm the situation on their own. When this is not possible, officers have the right to make brief psychiatric assessments and to refer those who appear mentally ill for further evaluation and treatment when they present a possible danger to themselves or others.

Unawareness

• When people commit minor crimes, it may not be immediately obvious to responding police officers that the perpetrator is mentally ill. As such, the person may be arrested and even held temporarily in jail rather than referred to a psychiatric hospital. Alcohol and addiction issues also frequently require police involvement, such as in cases of drunk driving or drug possession, which often coincides with mental illness but may go unrecognized as such by law enforcement officials.

Mercy Booking

• Because of funding cuts and the deinstitutionalization movement, communities may not have adequate hospitalization facilities for the mentally ill. Therefore when people are picked up by the police for minor crimes, the police may recognize the presence of mental illness but choose to send the individual to jail. Knowing that adequate hospital facilities are unavailable, the police may hope that the mentally ill individual will get psychiatric help in jail.

Benefits

• Training police officers in dealing with mental health crises has many benefits. According to the Mental Health Coalition of the Greater Lacrosse Area in Wisconsin, crisis intervention training (CIT) keeps police officers safer, with less risk of personal injury in the line of duty. CIT also results in fewer repeat contacts with the mentally ill, a reduction in manpower use and ensures that more individuals in 72-hour holds meet the criteria for emergency detention.