Premium
Everyday police work during mental health encounters: A study of call resolutions in Chicago and their implications for diversion
Author(s) -
Watson Amy C.,
Wood Jennifer D.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
behavioral sciences and the law
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.649
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1099-0798
pISSN - 0735-3936
DOI - 10.1002/bsl.2324
Subject(s) - mental health , psychological intervention , context (archaeology) , officer , suicide prevention , occupational safety and health , crisis intervention , poison control , nursing , medicine , psychology , psychiatry , public relations , medical emergency , political science , paleontology , pathology , law , biology
In recent decades, there has been sustained focus on police responses to persons experiencing mental health crises. The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model has been a seminal effort to improve safety, reduce arrests and enhance the use of emergency psychiatric assessment. With CIT well established, new discussions have emerged around how to further enhance the police–public health interface, including diversion from hospital emergency departments. In this context, this article takes stock of current police practices, utilizing descriptive data on 428 mental health‐related calls addressed by Chicago Police over 3 years triangulated with insights from 21 in‐depth officer interviews. During these calls, hospital transports were conducted more often than arrests. Moreover, informal interventions – without any legal action or hospitalization – were used most often, speaking to the “gray zone” nature of mental health‐related encounters. Taken together, the data reveal the need for non‐crisis diversion options that address chronic vulnerabilities.