Law enforcement agencies and the mental health system (i.e., state and local mental health agencies, community mental health providers, and hospital emergency departments) can work together to develop strategies to meet the mental health demands in their community. It is about building trust and an appreciation for each other's expertise, but that can be a challenge.
The police play an important role to connect individuals with services and supports that will reduce problematic behavior and promote public safety. Likewise, mental health agencies and providers can steer officers to resources for people with mental illnesses when crisis services are responsive to law enforcement needs.
To do so, police and mental health agencies and providers will need to understand and appreciate each other's roles, responsibilities and resource constraints. Building a collaborative partnership takes time and patience, and law enforcement and mental health agencies and providers may need to first address long-standing challenges. For example, it is not unusual in many communities for each system to believe that their counterparts are not accepting full responsibility for their role in handling mental health calls for service. Taking the time to discuss points of friction will ease misunderstandings, but it will also identify opportunities to clarify roles and improve efficiencies between the systems
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This is a community issue that requires a holistic approach to be successful. Although law enforcement agencies are the initial responder to many people with mental illnesses, they are not equipped to provide the resources and services this population needs. Law enforcement must seek to partner with both mental health professionals and advocates and the families of those with mental illnesses to emphasize collective ownership of the issue along with solutions. Law enforcement must seek to partner with both public health officials, mental health professionals, and advocates and families of those with mental illnesses to emphasize collective ownership of the issue along with solutions.
Law enforcement leaders should identify which mental health agencies in their communities provide services to individuals with mental health issues or intellectual/developmental disabilities. This will help identify services and resources needed to effectively develop collaborative strategies for effective short- and long-term responses. Collaboration within the community, to include partnerships with municipal and county nonprofits and other service providers, as well as state associations will help make the work successful. Consumers of mental health services, their families, and advocates should all be engaged in planning, delivering, and monitoring a collaborative law enforcement-mental health partnership.
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As first responders, law enforcement professionals encounter people with mental illnesses or intellectual/developmental disabilities every day. Some of these individuals are in an emotional crisis, or unable to care for themselves, and need assistance. Other individuals exhibit behavior that is perceived as threatening, or they may be linked to or engaged in criminal acts. And, research has shown that persons who have mental illnesses, like many persons who have disabilities, are at a greater risk for victimization.
Law enforcement agencies have responded to people with mental illnesses throughout their history. Since the mid-1980s the frequency with which officers encounter persons with mental illnesses has steadily increased to the point that all law enforcement agencies—large and small, urban and rural—now have regular interactions with people in their communities who have mental illnesses. Consensus exists among that law enforcement agencies are bearing a disproportionate responsibility for these encounters because of an inadequate mental health system. Nonetheless, the reality is that these encounters are occurring and it is therefore important to ensure an appropriate response.
Responding to mental health calls for service can be difficult for officers, but by recognizing the extent to which officers interact with people with mental illnesses, agencies can take the necessary steps to train and prepare officers, develop policies, and build collaborative partnerships with mental health providers that will lead to safe encounters and appropriate dispositions.
Recognizing the impact these encounters have on policing, both as a public safety and as a public health concern, addressing these encounters should be a priority for law enforcement leaders.
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PMHCs can create positive changes for law enforcement agencies, law enforcement officers and consumers alike. Based on research and the experiences of agencies, the most common benefits are:
Improved safety for all
- Improved safety for all
- Fewer injuries to consumers
- Fewer uses of force
Increased access to mental health treatment, supports and services for consumers
- More diversions from the emergency room
- More referrals of consumers to the appropriate behavioral health provider
- More crisis prevention services
Decreasing the frequency of these individuals' encounters with the criminal justice system
- Fewer arrests
- More jail diversions
Reduced costs incurred by law enforcement agencies
- Fewer repeat CFS
- Fewer SWAT call-outs
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