Transaction Search Form: please type in any of the fields below.
Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 10:28 pm
Time: 10:28 pm
Results for crisis intervention
13 results foundAuthor: Reuland, Melissa Title: Statewide Law Enforcement/ Mental Health Efforts Strategies to Support and Sustain Local Initiatives Summary: Nationwide, law enforcement agencies in rapidly increasing numbers have embraced specialized policing responses (SPRs, pronounced “spurs”) to people with mental illnesses. These efforts, which prioritize treatment over incarceration when appropriate, are planned and implemented in partnership with community service providers and citizens. The two most prevalent SPR approaches are Crisis Intervention Teams (CITs) and police-mental health co-responder teams. CITs, pioneered by the Memphis (TN) Police Department, draw on a self-selected cadre of officers trained to identify signs and symptoms of mental illness, to de-escalate any situation involving an individual who appears to have a mental illness, and to connect that person in crisis to treatment. The second approach, co-responder teams, forged by the Los Angeles (CA) Police Department and San Diego County (CA) Sheriff’s Department, pairs officers with mental health professionals to respond to calls involving people in mental health crisis. Other law enforcement agencies have modified or combined these strategies, but a common goal holds for all forms of specialized responses: increased safety for all individuals involved. Evidence suggests that when SPRs are appropriately implemented, departments show a decrease in officer injuries and improvements in connecting the individual involved to mental health treatment. Since the groundbreaking efforts in Memphis and California began, these programs have spread steadily to new communities, but largely by word of mouth or in response to a policeinvolved tragedy. Traditionally, practitioners and advocates have traveled to SPR locations and then adapted approaches to their own jurisdictions’ needs. But as the demand for technical assistance has increased, it has become impractical for interested communities to learn directly from the program originators. Furthermore, many agencies lack the capacity to send a team to another jurisdiction as well as the expertise to tailor the program to their distinct needs. As a result, individual states have responded to the growing need to support SPRs by assigning a public agency or nonprofit the lead role in helping local communities to design, implement, and sustain effective responses to people with mental illnesses. In other instances, this responsibility has been taken over by state government, which is especially well structured to meet the needs of interested local agencies and to make resources and technical assistance available. Specifically, state legislatures create the laws that authorize police powers for emergency mental health evaluations and custody. The allocation of many mental health resources is coordinated at the state level as well. State-level organizations have been well positioned to create incentives for innovative partnerships among law enforcement agencies, the community, and the mental health system. These incentives have distinct benefits over state mandates that may not include adequate funding support. Coordinating SPR efforts statewide can also facilitate regional pooling of resources, which helps ensure that smaller or rural agencies can implement this type of program. This paper describes how statewide coordination efforts are structured in three states—Connecticut, Ohio, and Utah—and synthesizes their successes and challenges in coordinating this work. The purpose of the document is to provide readers with a description of how statewide efforts can be organized and play a role in supporting SPRs within their borders. Details: New York: Council of State Governments, Justice Center, 2012. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 25, 2013 at: http://consensusproject.org/documents/0000/1613/1.8.12_Statewide_LE_MH_web.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://consensusproject.org/documents/0000/1613/1.8.12_Statewide_LE_MH_web.pdf Shelf Number: 127407 Keywords: Crisis InterventionMental Health Services (U.S.)Mentally Ill OffendersPolice Services for the Mentally IllPolice Specialized Units |
Author: King, Salena Marie Title: The Impact of Crisis Intervention Team Training on Law Enforcement Officers: An Evaluation of Self-Efficacy and Attitudes Toward People with Mental Illness Summary: Law enforcement officers (LEOs) routinely respond to calls involving people with mental illness (PMI) in crisis. While LEOs have come to expect a wide spectrum of needs for assistance from PMI, there is often little to no training provided for responding to these encounters. This is an alarming fact given that 7 to 10 % of all law enforcement contacts involve PMI. It has been found that the lack of training leaves LEOs perceiving themselves as ill-equipped to manage mental health-related situations, creating a great deal of anxiety. The insufficient training has also been determined to negatively impact PMI receiving help, either through exacerbation of the problem or a dismissal of the crisis. As an answer to these difficulties, Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training was developed to better inform officers about mental illnesses, provide skills useful for these encounters, and prevent unnecessary arrests. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of CIT training on officers’ (1) perceptions of self-efficacy when working with PMI and (2) attitudes toward PMI. The Self-Efficacy Scale (SES), designed specifically to assess the self-efficacy of LEOs when encountering a person with mental illness, was administered to 58 officers pre/post CIT training as well as 40 officers with no CIT training. Additionally, the Community Attitudes Toward the Mentally Ill (CAMI) was administered to the same groups of officers in order to measure attitudes along the four subscales of Authoritarianism, Benevolence, Social Restrictiveness, and Community Mental Health Ideology (CMHI). It was hypothesized that CIT training would significantly increase LEOs’ perceived self-efficacy when working with PMI, result in significantly more positive attitudes toward people with mental illness, and that LEOs with no CIT training would not significantly differ from officers assessed at the pre-CIT stage. Results, obtained through the use of an ANOVA, indicate that officers who participated in CIT training achieved a significant increase in perceived self-efficacy from pre to post measures. Contrary to expectations, a significant difference was found between officers who did not choose to participate in CIT training and officers assessed at pre-CIT – it was indicated that non-CIT officers reported a higher degree of perceived self-efficacy. Alternatively, there was no significant difference found between non-CIT officers and pre-CIT officers on measures of attitudes toward PMI. Through the use of a MANOVA, it was determined that CIT training effected the desired changes of increasing benevolent and community-inclusive attitudes toward PMI, as well as decreasing socially restrictive attitudes. The prediction that CIT training would decrease authoritarian attitudes toward PMI was not supported. Implications for these outcomes are discussed along with recommendations for law enforcement agencies and mental health advocates. Details: Auburn, AL: Auburn University, 2011. 131p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed April 4, 2013 at: http://etd.auburn.edu/etd/bitstream/handle/10415/2580/Salena%20King%20Dissertation%20Final%20Draft.pdf?sequence=2 Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://etd.auburn.edu/etd/bitstream/handle/10415/2580/Salena%20King%20Dissertation%20Final%20Draft.pdf?sequence=2 Shelf Number: 128254 Keywords: Crisis InterventionMentally Ill OffendersPolice Attitudes and BehaviorsPolice Services for the Mentally Ill |
Author: Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) Title: The Police Response to Active Shooter Incidents Summary: "The Police Response to Active Shooter Incidents," which describes changes in police departments' practices in responding to mass shootings, such as the ones that occurred at the Sandy Hook Elementary School and the Washington, DC Navy Yard. Today's policies and practices are focused on reducing the number of victims when an active shooter incident happens. There is an emphasis on engaging the shooter as quickly as possible and not necessarily waiting for SWAT or other special units to arrive. In addition, police, fire, and emergency medical services are conducting joint training designed to get medical assistance to gunshot victims as quickly as possible. Sometimes this involves allowing EMS workers to enter "warm zones" before it is certain that the shooter or shooters have been apprehended. And police officers can be trained to give life-saving medical care. The report also describes efforts by police to work with other governmental and private organizations to prevent active shooter incidents, by identifying persons who may pose a threat and helping them to get treatment for mental illness or other needs. Finally, the report discusses ways in which police can educate community members about what to do if they are confronted with an active shooting situation. Details: Washington, DC: PERF, 2014. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Critical Issues in Policing Series: Accessed July 1, 2014 at: http://www.policeforum.org/assets/docs/Critical_Issues_Series/the%20police%20response%20to%20active%20shooter%20incidents%202014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.policeforum.org/assets/docs/Critical_Issues_Series/the%20police%20response%20to%20active%20shooter%20incidents%202014.pdf Shelf Number: 132585 Keywords: Active Shooter IncidentsCrisis InterventionGun ViolenceMass MurdersMass ShootingsPolice ProceduresPolice TrainingThreat Assessment |
Author: Gostomski, Amira Title: Vancouver Police Department: police officers' assessment of the effectiveness of the Crisis Intervention Training Program and its impact on their attitudes towards their interactions with persons living with serious mental illness Summary: The purpose of this research was to examine the effectiveness of the Vancouver Police Department's (VPD) Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) course in equipping police personnel with the knowledge and skills to effectively intervene with mental health consumers by encouraging non-violent, non-lethal crisis intervention and the minimal use of force. This study examined 83 (n=83) course evaluation questionnaires completed by the recipients of the CIT course at the VPD, statistical data from the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPPC), and coroner's and media reports of deaths involving the mentally ill that resulted from police encounters. The analysis of the feedback from the CIT course participants revealed their enhanced awareness and knowledge about mental illness as well as an increased confidence in the disposition of skills and techniques learned during the training. The OPCC statistical data indicated a reduced number of complaints filed against the VPD; however no definite conclusions could have been drawn from this data. The analysis of deaths of the mentally ill killed by VPD officers did not reveal a specific trend after the enactment of the CIT course. Results of the study highlighted the necessity for the adoption of the VPD's CIT course model by all of the police departments in the province. Further recommendations for collaboration between law enforcement agencies in the province, mental health resources, and the implementation of various policies related to the CIT course were addressed. Details: Burnaby, BC, Canada: Simon Fraser University, 2012. 104p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed October 15, 2014 at: http://summit.sfu.ca/item/12182 Year: 2012 Country: Canada URL: http://summit.sfu.ca/item/12182 Shelf Number: 133924 Keywords: Crisis InterventionMentally Ill PersonsPolice Crisis Training (Canada)Police Education and TrainingPolice Use of Force |
Author: Ayoub, Lama Hassoun Title: Love One Another and Take Care of Each Other: A Process Evaluation of the Rocky Boy's Children Exposed to Violence Project Summary: As part of the U.S. Attorney General's Defending Childhood Demonstration Program, eight sites around the country were funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the Office of Violence Against Women to use a collaborative process to develop and implement programming to address children's exposure to violence in their communities. The Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy's Reservation in Montana was chosen as one of these sites, and, since 2010, has received nearly $2 million in federal funding for this initiative. Led by the Chippewa Cree Division of Human Services, Rocky Boy's Children Exposed to Violence Project (RBCEVP) is informed by a commitment to culture as prevention; that is, that reconnecting youth and families with the Chippewa Cree language, culture, and traditions will influence children's exposure to violence on the reservation. One of the primary components of the RBCEVP is advocacy and case management. The RBCEVP staff several domestic violence/sexual advocates and child advocates. The advocates provide crisis intervention services, court and medical advocacy, development of safety plans, referrals to treatment and other providers, and can also provide traditional healing ceremonies. The child advocates also work with children in child abuse or neglect cases and build strong relationships with the children they serve. Another major component of the project is community awareness and education. The RBCEVP utilized a variety of approaches to community awareness to spread the message about children's exposure to violence and about the resources that are available to children and families. Community awareness was accomplished through publications and printed materials, radio announcements and advertisements, as well as numerous events such as community summits, family fun nights, and awareness walks. Other components of the project include professional training for local partners as well as prevention work with youth in schools, including leading and supporting student groups in the local schools and holding summer youth camps for at-risk youth. Addressing children's exposure to violence comes with many challenges. In addition, the RBCEVP had many facilitators that helped their work, including a strong history of collaboration among partner agencies and a commitment by tribal elders to the cause. The stories and experiences of the individuals exposed to the RBCEVP indicate that their efforts have had some impact on the community, regardless of whether not that impact can be measured. Details: New York: Center for Court Innovation, 2015. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 28, 2015 at: http://www.courtinnovation.org/sites/default/files/documents/Rocky_Boy_0.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://www.courtinnovation.org/sites/default/files/documents/Rocky_Boy_0.pdf Shelf Number: 136163 Keywords: At-Risk YouthChildren and ViolenceChildren Exposed to ViolenceCrisis Intervention |
Author: Milby, John D. Title: Preempting Mass Murder: Improving Law Enforcement Risk Assessments of Persons with Mental Illness Summary: "Across the United States, mass murder events have been on the rise for nearly a decade. This thesis found that persons with serious mental illness perpetrated a statistically significant number of these events. Currently, law enforcement agencies are often the first--and in many communities the only resource--available to assist and assess mentally ill persons in crisis. This thesis investigated the current state of law enforcement training as it relates to assessing dangerousness and the risk for violence among persons with serious mental illness. It found that there is very little training and no risk assessment tool or guide currently available to assist law enforcement officers tasked with assessing mentally ill persons for dangerousness. Subsequently, this thesis examined alternative methods and models for assessing risk, including clinical violence risk assessments, and it conducted summary case studies. These included cases in which mentally ill persons committed acts of mass murder and cases where law enforcement successfully intervened and prevented mentally ill persons from carrying out planned violence. As a result of this research and analysis, a field risk assessment guide has been developed and recommended for adoption to aid law enforcement officers in assessing the dangerousness of mentally ill persons." Details: Monterey, CA: Naval Postgraduate School, 2015. 137p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed August 24, 2015 at: https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=765308 Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=765308 Shelf Number: 136537 Keywords: Crisis InterventionHomicides Law Enforcement Mass Homicides Mentally Ill Offenders |
Author: Police Executive Research Forum Title: An Integrated Approach to De-Escalation and minimizing Use of Force Summary: Persons with mental illnesses, drug or alcohol addictions, or disorders such as autism can present police officers with difficult challenges. In some cases, a person may brandish a weapon or otherwise appear to pose a threat to the public, to the police, or to himself or herself. The threat may be a real one, or the situation may be less dangerous that it appears, and often it is difficult to assess the level of danger. These situations often are complicated when, because of their conditions, persons cannot communicate effectively with police officers. In some cases, they may appear to be threatening or uncooperative, when in fact they are unable to understand an officer's questions or orders. Many police agencies have recognized the special challenges they face in dealing with these populations of persons with various conditions, and have undertaken specialized training programs designed to teach officers to understand these situations when they happen, and to make special efforts to de-escalate the situations when that is possible. As one recent news report expressed it, "With that mind-set, the officer can use alternative tactics: words instead of guns, questions instead of orders, patience instead of immediate action. The method may not only defuse a tense situation, authorities say, but [also may] result in treatment at a screening center for the suspect rather than weeks in jail." When police fail to understand that they are dealing with a person with a special condition, the result is sometimes a use of force that may be legally and morally justifiable, especially if the person appeared to be threatening the safety of others, but which produces a very unfortunate outcome-a situation that some observers call "lawful, but awful." For police departments, the challenge is to adopt policies and training programs that are designed to improve the handling of these difficult encounters and reduce the chances of force being used unnecessarily. This report summarizes the findings of PERF research on this topic and presentations made at a PERF Summit in Washington, D.C. in February 2012 on "An Integrated Approach to De-Escalation and Minimizing Use of Force." At this one-day meeting, police chiefs and other experts described their experiences on issues such as the following: - How "slowing the situation down" and getting a supervisor to the scene can reduce the chances of violence; - How Crisis Intervention Teams (CITs) and other partnerships with mental health officials can result in more effective handling of encounters with members of special populations; - Identifying "chronic consumers" of police resources and helping them to avoid crisis situations; - Special considerations in dealing with veterans in crisis; - Avoiding overreliance on weapons, such as Electronic Control Weapons, as opposed to hands-on tactics and verbal skills; - Recognizing the real threats to officers that can be posed by persons with mental illnesses or other conditions, and the anxiety that officers feel about such situations; - Training officers in "tactical disengagement"; - The importance of training for officers in these encounters, and practicing strategies to de-escalate volatile situations; - Use-of-force continuums and other tools for discussing use-of-force options; - The defunding of mental health care, and the "cycling" of mentally ill persons through lockups, jails, and prisons; and - The negative impact on a police agency's "legitimacy" that can occur from a "lawful, but awful" event. As in other reports in the Critical Issues Series, we present the discussions from our meeting in the police chiefs' and other experts' own words, in order to convey their insight and experience. Details: Washington, DC: PERF, 2012. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: Critical Issues in Policing Series: Accessed August 31, 2015 at: http://www.policeforum.org/assets/docs/Critical_Issues_Series/an%20integrated%20approach%20to%20de-escalation%20and%20minimizing%20use%20of%20force%202012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.policeforum.org/assets/docs/Critical_Issues_Series/an%20integrated%20approach%20to%20de-escalation%20and%20minimizing%20use%20of%20force%202012.pdf Shelf Number: 136622 Keywords: Crisis InterventionMentally Ill PersonsPolice DiscretionPolice LegitimacyPolice Use of ForcePolice-Citizen Interactions |
Author: Police Executive Research Forum Title: Guiding Principles On Use of Force Summary: American policing is at a critical juncture. Across the country, community members have been distressed by images of police officers using deadly force in questionable circumstances. These incidents are an infinitesimal fraction of the millions of interactions that take place between the police and the public every week. Most police officers never fire their guns (except during training) throughout their entire careers, yet they face enormous challenges and risks to their own safety on a regular basis and they perform their jobs admirably. But police chiefs tell us that even one bad encounter can damage trust with the community that took years to build. Others tell us that there is an upheaval within the policing profession itself. Officers who in the past exuded great pride in wearing the badge now feel underappreciated by some members of the public, who seem to question their every move and motive. PERF members also tell us that there is a crisis of public safety and officer safety. Violent crime shot up in many U.S. cities last year-the result, some have said, of the so-called "You Tube effect," with some officers hesitant to police proactively for fear of becoming the subject of the next viral video, and residents who have grown reluctant to partner with the police in community policing efforts. At the same time, violence against police officers, including attacks on officers just for being police officers, seems to have become more brutal and senseless. As a research organization of law enforcement executives, PERF hears from police chiefs and other officials every day. And what we are hearing is that the policing profession must take the initiative and address the serious challenges confronting it today. That means rethinking some of the fundamentals of policies, training, tactics, and equipment regarding use of force. We need to challenge the conventional thinking on how the police approach some potential use-of-force situations, in particular those that involve people with mental illness who do not have a firearm. Many of the strategies recommended in this report, such as Crisis Intervention Team training and de-escalation, are already in place in many police agencies, and have been for years. Other strategies, such as the Critical Decision-Making Model, are just beginning to be adopted by leading police agencies. This report reflects the latest thinking on police use-of-force issues from the perspective of many of the nation's leading police executives. These leaders are quoted in this report and in four previous PERF reports on these issues, three of which were released within the last year. Details: Washington, DC: PERF, 2016. 136p. Source: Internet Resource: Critical Issues in Policing Series: Accessed May 23, 2016 at: http://www.policeforum.org/assets/30%20guiding%20principles.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.policeforum.org/assets/30%20guiding%20principles.pdf Shelf Number: 139122 Keywords: Assaults Against PoliceCrisis InterventionDeadly ForcePolice LegitimacyPolice Use of ForcePolice-Citizen InteractionsPolicing Training |
Author: Skorek, Rebecca Title: Evaluation of Chicago Police Department's Crisis Intervention Team for Youth (CIT-Y) training curriculum: Year 2 Summary: Beginning in 2010, the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority awarded several grants to the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Chicago (NAMI-C) to fund Crisis Intervention Training For Youth courses to officers at the Chicago Police Department (CPD). The program was the first 40-hour, five-day law enforcement youth crisis intervention training offered in the country. NAMI-C and CPD developed the course to answer requests for additional training from officers responding to calls for service involving youth with mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders. Key findings Nationally, it is estimated that as many as 70 percent of the 2 million youth and young adults arrested each year suffer from mental health disorders which the justice system is not equipped to handle. 1 These youth could be diverted to community-based treatment services rather than the juvenile justice system. Law enforcement, under the doctrine of parens patriae, have the authority to intervene in mental health-related incidents and determine the juvenile's trajectory - resolution on scene, arrest, or psychiatric hospitalization transport. However, law enforcement officers called to intervene in crisis situations may not have the skills to safely interact with youth in crisis. Too often, officers resort to excess or even deadly force, 2 although many individuals with mental disorders pose little risk of harm to others and are much more likely to harm themselves or be victims of violence. 3 The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model was developed in response to the need for alternative law enforcement response to crisis calls. The team is designed to be a collaboration between police and appropriate community service systems to ensure that individuals with mental health needs are referred for services rather than brought into the criminal justice system. 4 Extending this model to youth crisis calls required additional training to prepare officers to identify youth in crisis, assess their risk of harm, and apply de-escalation techniques to reduce trauma to themselves, youth and their families and avoid criminalization of juvenile behaviors related to unmet needs. 5 This study was part of a multi-year evaluation conducted by Authority researchers on the implementation of 12 Crisis Intervention Training for Youth (CIT-Y) courses for CPD officers funded by the Authority. It focused on the second year of training implementation in 2012. It was designed to assess CIT-Y core training components and measure the curriculum's effect on officer knowledge of and attitudes toward appropriate responses to youth crisis calls. The evaluation also sought to assess progress on recommended diversification of training participation among the various levels of CPD staff, especially those responsible for supervising trained officers. Authority researchers designed evaluation tools to measure training effectiveness, including a pre-/post-curriculum test, 18 training module evaluation surveys, and follow-up focus group questions. Data was collected from 144 officers attending CIT-Y training courses from January 2012 through May 2013 after completing adult CIT training, and a comparison group of 137 officers volunteering for adult CIT training classes but not yet trained in crisis intervention techniques. Details: Chicago: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, 2016. 71p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 22, 2016 at: http://www.icjia.state.il.us/assets/articles/CIT-Y%20Year%202%20Final%20Report%20to%20post.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.icjia.state.il.us/assets/articles/CIT-Y%20Year%202%20Final%20Report%20to%20post.pdf Shelf Number: 139789 Keywords: Crisis InterventionJuvenile OffendersMentally Ill OffendersPolice Education and Training |
Author: Tamis, Karen Title: It Takes a Village: Diversion Resources for Police and Families Summary: Police frequently encounter youth running away from home, violating curfew, skipping school, and chronically disobeying adults-misbehavior that can often stem from family conflict and that do not require justice involvement. When alternatives are not available, however, these behaviors can lead to arrests or detention. Families dealing with difficult youth behavior often unwittingly send their youth into the justice system by calling the police because they feel they have nowhere to turn for help. For police, encountering these kinds of situations can be frustrating because they feel limited to suboptimal choices: either ignoring the problem behavior or criminalizing it. This brief explores the creative, collaborative, and community-focused work being done in Nevada, Connecticut, Nebraska, Michigan, Illinois, and Oregon to find productive responses to youth "acting out." The juvenile assessment resource centers, crisis response centers, and crisis intervention teams in these jurisdictions address the needs of youth and connect families to resources and services without the need for juvenile justice involvement. Details: New York: Vera Institute of Justice, 2016. 13p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 30, 2016 at: http://www.issuelab.org/resources/25235/25235.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.issuelab.org/resources/25235/25235.pdf Shelf Number: 139901 Keywords: Community ParticipationCrisis InterventionJuvenile JusticeYouth Diversion |
Author: Petersen, Randy Title: Pre-arrest and Pre-booking Diversion and Mental health in Policing Summary: While pretrial diversion programs have been around for some time, moving the point of occurrence further back in the process with certain offenders creates an entirely new dynamic for the criminal justice system, the police, the offender, and the community. Specifically addressing mental health issues, to include substance abuse and addiction, some new approaches in law enforcement are showing promise. One of the more recent developments, pioneered by Seattle, Washington, and King County, is the use of pre-arrest or pre-booking diversion programs initiated by police officers for adult offenders of certain crimes. Awareness of the need for crisis intervention training, programs, and policies in law enforcement is growing. The Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program, its results, and the considerations and partnerships that went into its development, coupled with new approaches to crisis intervention as exemplified by the Houston Police Department may represent a model for Texas law enforcement to follow and allow law enforcement to return to its traditional role of the servant guardian. Details: Austin: Texas Public Policy Foundation, Center for Effective Justice, 2017. 8p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Perspective: Accessed November 18, 2017 at: https://www.texaspolicy.com/library/doclib/2017-03-PP05-PrearrestPrebookingDiversion-CEJ-RandyPeterson.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://www.texaspolicy.com/library/doclib/2017-03-PP05-PrearrestPrebookingDiversion-CEJ-RandyPeterson.pdf Shelf Number: 148258 Keywords: Crisis InterventionMentally Ill Offenders Police and the Mentally Ill Police Discretion Pretrial Diversion |
Author: Holihen, Katie Title: Park Ridge's Success Story on Going Beyond Crisis Intervention Team Training: Building Whole-Community Responses to Mental Health Summary: As community-based mental health services go unfunded or lack sufficient resources, the safety net for people with mental illness has been essentially eliminated. At the community level, emergency rooms and law enforcement have become the new front doors to what remains of our mental health system, operating as the first point of contact for people in crisis or with chronic mental illness. As such, there is a pressing need for education and collaboration between these parties, as well as with the larger community. Specifically, in regards to law enforcement, agencies need to examine how to best manage officers' increasingly frequent contact with individuals with mental illness, including how to interact with them in a safe and compassionate way. Lack of training can quickly lead to the misinterpretation of intent of individuals in crisis, which, as seen in several high-profile officer-involved shootings across the country, could be the difference between life and death. Make no mistake, law enforcement as a profession has advanced considerably in its response to calls for service involving people with mental illness, in part because of the implementation of specialized police responses (SPR),1 which fall primarily into two categories: (1) the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Model, which was founded by the University of Memphis and was first implemented in Memphis, Tennessee,2 and (2) law enforcement and mental health co-responder teams, which was pioneered in Los Angeles County, California. As a cornerstone program for improving responses to people in crisis, the CIT Model, also known as the Memphis Model, and its affiliated training have been implemented in hundreds of police jurisdictions nationwide. Developed in the late 1980s, the CIT Model works to improve both officer and community safety by providing officers with relevant training and to reduce reliance on the criminal justice system by building stronger links within the mental health system. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2018. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 11, 2018 at : https://ric-zai-inc.com/Publications/cops-w0856-pub.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://ric-zai-inc.com/Publications/cops-w0856-pub.pdf Shelf Number: 150818 Keywords: Community Oriented PolicingCommunity ParticipationCrisis InterventionMental Health ServicesMentally Ill PersonsPolice and the Mentally IllPolice-Citizen InteractionsPolice-Community Relations |
Author: McGeough, Emma Title: What Works: Collaborative Police and Health Interventions for Mental Health Distress Summary: Executive Summary - The police coming into contact with those in mental health distress has been identified as a key issue in the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027, Policing 2026, and Justice in Scotland: Vision and Priorities 2017. It is also a main theme for the newly established Health and Justice Collaboration Improvement Board. Research Aims and Overview This evidence review looks at collaborative interventions which help support people in mental health distress. It aims to outline 'what works' when individuals present in mental health distress to the police. The key objective is to examine interventions that have been utilised internationally and, where evaluations are available, identify what aspects of the approach work well/not so well. Types of Intervention and What Works Many collaborative interventions have been developed and piloted across the world. Interventions tend to fall into one of three categories: Increased training on mental health and distress for police officers Mental health staff working with the police service to triage, give advice or support over the phone or face-to-face if necessary 'Ride along' models where police and health practitioners work together in the response of mental health emergencies. Increased police training and liaison This type of intervention provides dedicated training to police on mental health. Evaluations found that: Evidence suggested that training is best delivered by mental health staff Role-playing is beneficial for real life experience Important to dedicate enough hours to training Interventions were more effective when the training was combined with some form of increased liaison with mental health practitioners. Mental Health practitioner Embedded as a Contact for Police A mental health nurse is embedded in control room, custody suite or provides a direct line of contact for officers. Evaluations found that this approach: Improved communication and information sharing Reached more service users than face-to-face interventions Was best for rural areas Was more costly overall but less expensive by case. Co-Response Team Team of one mental health nurse and one police officer. Evaluations found that: The teams were less likely to detain, hospitalise or charge individuals unnecessarily Some evidence of improved service-user experience Co-response teams did not provide as much geographical coverage or respond to as many incidents as other models Teams must be truly mobile to be efficient The teams were reliant on the nurses knowledge of the local area and health services. Scottish Evaluations There are two Scottish interventions currently being piloted or rolled out, with some evaluative evidence available. The Community Triage model piloted in a number of areas by Police Scotland provided a mental health nurse to conduct telephone assessments. This has been found to greatly reduce the length of time police spend on calls. Distress Brief Interventions ( DBI) are more in line with the first model. DBIs provide training to front line staff to improve compassionate response and referrals for onward care. The pilot is still in its infancy but a complete evaluation is being carried out. Other types of promising interventions There are a range of other promising interventions that can improve outcomes for mentally distresed individuals. These include those that are focused on prevention and early intervention - in other words, those aimed at preventing a crisis from occuring in the first place. These preventative or 'upstream' interventions can be used alongside the other types of interventions that will be discussed here. There are also interventions which involve assessing individuals remotely via a 'telehealth' assessment. Conclusions There are many examples of innovative and succesful collaborations for improving processes and outcomes for those in mental health distress presenting to the police. There are three main types of intervention approach and each can lead to different outcomes for the services or the individual. Therefore, it is clearly important to consider what the desired outcome of a planned intervention is. For example, reduced time spent by the police dealing with incidents, provide support to more individuals, smoother process and resolutions for the individuals, cost savings, better use of place of safety etc. Overall, the evidence points to the most successful approaches being those which are well co-ordinated between policing and health, involve a high degree of information sharing and clear communications and consider the needs of local areas. There is also scope for innovation. One area that appears particularly untapped through our examination of the evidence is technological innovation. For example, remote assessments. It may also be valuable to look into more preventative interventions, intervening before a crisis point is reached. The recent establishment of the Health and Justice Collaboration Improvement Board could be a real facilitator in overcoming some of the structural and cultural barriers. The Board is ideally placed to direct a strong co-ordinated approach, which could lead to improved outcomes for both sectors and for individuals. Details: Edinburgh: Scottish Government Social Research, 2018. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 16, 2018 at: https://beta.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/research-publication/2018/08/works-collaborative-police-health-interventions-mental-health-distress/documents/00537517-pdf/00537517-pdf/govscot:document/ Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://beta.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/research-publication/2018/08/works-collaborative-police-health-interventions-mental-health-distress/documents/00537517-pdf/00537517-pdf/govscot:document/ Shelf Number: 151160 Keywords: Crisis InterventionInteragency Collaboration Mentally Ill Persons Police and the Mentally Ill |