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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 9:21 pm
Time: 9:21 pm
Results for police specialized units
1 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 |