Campus Police Response to Mental Illness: Training, Collaboration, and Perceived Effectiveness

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Schriver
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Perceived Effectiveness ◽  
Campus Police ◽  
Police Response

Police Encounters with Persons with a Mental Illness

Criminology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan Chappell ◽  
Anthony O'Brien
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Police Response ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
The 1960S

Involvement with people with a mental illness (PMI) has been a feature of the role of police in Western societies since the earliest mental health legislation in the 19th century. It is only in recent times, however, and especially since the era commencing in the 1960s with the widespread closure of most asylums for the mentally ill, that this role has become the subject of systematic research and analysis. Early literature reflects concern about a role thrust on police as state-provided, institutionally based mental health services were rolled back. Police were confronted with a new phenomenon: the presence, especially in urban centers, of large numbers of people with disabling mental illness for whom there was no longer a residentially based mental health service, and frequently little in the way of a community-based program of mental health care and social services. Police were left to deal as best they could with what was often a crisis situation. One of the principal resulting consequences of a lack of comprehensive policy in this area, and the absence in particular of collaboration with and by mental health services, became a well-known cycle of arrest, incarceration, inadequate treatment, and chronicity for persons with mental illness. Without an effective model of interaction, any police response also ran the risk of escalating increasingly to the use of aversive measures, including deadly force. For these reasons, progressive police agencies sought new approaches to their involvement with people with mental illness. Since at least the 1960s the scholarly literature is reflective of this search. From this recognition emerged a variety of policing models designed to enhance the delivery of assistance to persons experiencing some form of mental health crisis. One of these models, the so-called Memphis Crisis Intervention Team (MCIT), has proven to be particularly influential and has now been widely adopted in some form or other in police agencies across North America and elsewhere. There is a considerable literature about the MCIT program that suggests it is effective in many areas, including changes in police beliefs and attitudes, improved pathways for those apprehended, and improved referrals to mental health services. There is less evidence about the effectiveness of other models as the literature reviewed in this article indicates. Attention is also directed to a number of emerging issues as well as those surrounding the education and training of police personnel, the protection of special populations de-escalation of crises, the use of force, and the particular challenges of extending these police response models to less developed parts of the globe.

scholarly journals Improving police response to persons with mental illness: A multi-level conceptualization of CIT

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 359-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy C. Watson ◽  
Melissa Schaefer Morabito ◽  
Jeffrey Draine ◽  
Victor Ottati
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Police Response ◽  
Multi Level

POLICE RESPONSE TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: SITUATIONS INVOLVING VETERANS EXHIBITING SIGNS OF MENTAL ILLNESS*

Criminology ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRED E. MARKOWITZ ◽  
AMY C. WATSON
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Police Response

The Police Response to Mental Illness on Campus

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 307-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary J. Margolis ◽  
Penny R. Shtull
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Police Response

scholarly journals The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Model for Law Enforcement: Creative Considerations for Enhancing University Campus Police Response to Mental Health Crisis

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Segal
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
College Campus ◽  
Mental Health Crisis ◽  
Campus Police ◽  
Crisis Intervention Team ◽  
Police Response ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Intervention Team ◽  
Cit Model

Abstract Purpose of the article American university and college campus law enforcement, like their peers in American munipal law enforcement agencies, find themselves interacting frequently with civilians experiencing mental health disturbances. An innovative model for law enforcement, the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model, has been developed to address the difficulties law enforcement professionals and civilians in mental health crisis face during encounters. (Margolis & Shtull, 2012) This article explores how CIT can enhance police response to mental health crisis on the college campus. Methodology/methods Methods of applied research were conducted, borrowing from a benchmarking model and including interviews with multiple key informants representing law enforcement and mental health. Informants were affiliated with three universities and multiple municipal jurisdictions in Virginia, USA. Scientific goal The goal was to assess the relevance of CIT on the college campus and explore creative approaches to enhancing campus police response to mental health crisis. Findings The results supported the scholarly literature regarding the efficacy of the CIT model. Creative adaptations to the CIT model for campus possibly can be implemented to address concerns of mental health crisis on campus. Conclusions CIT is a highly innovative model requiring extensive collaboration between law enforcement, mental health agencies, and mental health advocates. As standard qualitative research was not conducted, the sample size of key informants may not have reached saturation. However, findings from the interviews support the body of literature on CIT. The implementation of CIT on the college campus could possibly help to alleviate difficulties on campus arising from mental health crisis, including reducing inappropriate arrest or disciplinary action, improving campus safety, addressing concerns related to threat assessment and management, and enhancing collaborative efforts on campus and with resources in the broader community.

Enhancing Police Response to Veterans with Mental Illness: Pilot Study of a Train the Trainer Model

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon Hollingsworth ◽  
Michelle Nerish ◽  
Joel Rosenthal ◽  
James McGuire ◽  
Sean Clark ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Police Response ◽  
Train The Trainer
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