scholarly journals Reducing Violent Incidents between Police Officers and People with Psychiatric or Substance Use Disorders

2020 ◽  
Vol 687 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-184
Author(s):  
Harold A. Pollack ◽  
Keith Humphreys
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Psychiatric Care ◽  
Community Care ◽  
Critical Time ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Community Treatment ◽  
Inpatient Psychiatric Care ◽  
Police Encounters ◽  
Time Distance

This article describes evidence-based strategies designed to reduce the prevalence of police encounters with people in behavioral crisis (PBCs) and to make such encounters less dangerous for all parties when they do occur. Some of these strategies are implemented by law enforcement, including gun violence restraining orders and the training of officers to provide time, distance, and cover during encounters with PBCs. Other strategies involve broader systems of community care, including assertive community treatment for people with serious psychiatric disorders, and critical time interventions for individuals leaving incarceration or inpatient psychiatric care. Broader adoption of such strategies should both reduce the risk of police shootings of PBCs as well as improve the effectiveness and well-being of police officers.

Stress Spillover in Policing and Negative Relationship Functioning for Law Enforcement Marriages

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke McQuerrey Tuttle ◽  
Zachary Giano ◽  
Michael J. Merten
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Occupational Stress ◽  
Work Stress ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Relationship Functioning ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Marital Functioning ◽  
Unique Type

The nature of police work includes toxic work environments and uncertain danger which imparts a unique type of occupational stress spillover or the transfer of stress from work life to home life for law enforcement officers. Work stress places officers at risk for negative health and psychosocial outcomes. While it has been shown that occupational stress can compromise the well-being of police officers, little is known about how spillover can effect other areas of life for officers such as marital relationships. This study investigates the association between work demands, emotional stress spillover, and marital functioning in a law enforcement sample. Data from 1,180 married law enforcement respondents to the Police Officer Questionnaire which included 148 items assessing work stress, health, family, and support were examined. Responses were analyzed using regression analyses. Results showed that career demands and emotional spillover were statistically significant predictors of the variance in marital functioning. Social and emotional spillover of work-related stress carries negative consequences for communication and emotion regulation within law enforcement marriages.

scholarly journals Policing during a global health pandemic: Exploring the stress and well-being of police and their families

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 104-111
Author(s):  
Jacqueline M. Drew ◽  
Sherri Martin
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Critical Incidents ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Additional Stress ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
Stress Levels

Law enforcement personnel attend critical incidents that are typically short-lived and geographically confined. However, the recent global health pandemic potentially impacts on every officer, every shift, throughout the world. This research is one of the first survey studies of stress and mental health impacts of COVID-19 on United States police and their families. The study found that the pandemic has created additional stress for police and their families, elevating stress levels in an already highly stressed population. For police officers, sources of stress were predominately associated with the fear of infecting their families and the enforcement of restrictions. The stress created by the pandemic exceeds that of other commonly experienced critical incidents in policing. The current findings indicate that police and their families expect to experience longer-term, harmful mental health impacts. This research provides important insights for police agencies, as well as those who work to support and improve the well-being of police. The pandemic is impacting now on the current stress levels of police and is likely to create a legacy that must be managed into the future.

Value Conflicts in Law Enforcement

1965 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Chwast
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Police Officer ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Value Conflicts ◽  
Class Society ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Police Encounters ◽  
Class Status

In law enforcement, goal-oriented guides for behavior must be made explicit. Unclarified value conflicts result in irrelevant or inappropriate outcomes in police encounters. The sources of values are both personal and social. The former are largely derived from early personal experiences; the latter from the outside community (the middle class) and from formal and in formal demands within the police apparatus. The middle-class status of most police officers causes them to emphasize prompt ness, cleanliness, propriety, and orderliness. These values differ somewhat from those of lower-class society, where life may be a battle for survival. The police officer, usually poorly prepared for understanding persons from different backgrounds, finds it hard to cope with the conflict in values. Already alienated in an authoritarian police bureaucracy, he also feels alienated in the neighborhood in which he works. This increases his own sus picion and fear and conversely that of the lower-class persons whom he encounters.

Community Outcomes of Mentally Disordered Homicide Offenders in Victoria

2009 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 775-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Ong ◽  
Andrew Carroll ◽  
Shannon Reid ◽  
Adam Deacon
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Care ◽  
Reciprocal Relationship ◽  
Community Treatment ◽  
Recidivism Rate ◽  
Mental Impairment ◽  
Inpatient Psychiatric Care ◽  
Mentally Disordered ◽  
Community Outcomes ◽  
Forensic Psychiatric ◽  
Clinical Records

Objective: The aim of the present study was to describe characteristics and post-release outcomes of Victorian homicide offenders under the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997 (and/or its forerunner legislation) released from forensic inpatient psychiatric care since the development of specialist forensic services. Method: A legal database identified subjects meeting inclusion criteria: hospitalized in forensic psychiatric care due to finding of mental impairment or unfitness to stand trial for homicide in Victoria; released into the community; and released between 1 January 1991 and 30 April 2002. Using clinical records, demographics, index offence, progress in hospital, diagnosis, psychosocial and criminological data were obtained. Outcomes (offending or readmission into secure care) were obtained from the clinical records. Results: Of the 25 subjects, 19 (76%) were male. Primary diagnoses on admission to forensic hospital care were schizophrenia, n = 16 (64%); other psychotic disorder, n = 5 (20%); depression, n = 3 (12%); and personality disorder, n = 1 (4%). Mean time in custodial supervision was 11 years and 2 months, less for those whose offence occurred after the development of forensic rehabilitation services. In the first 3 years after release, there was a single episode of criminal recidivism, representing a recidivism rate of 1 in 25 (4%) over 3 years. Twelve subjects (48%) were readmitted at some point in the 3 year follow up. Conclusion: There was a very low rate of recidivism after discharge, but readmissions to hospital were common. Lengths of custodial care were reduced after the introduction of forensic rehabilitation facilities. Recidivism is low when there are well-designed and implemented forensic community treatment programmes, consistent with other data suggesting a reciprocal relationship between safe community care and a low threshold for readmission to hospital, lessening re-offending at times of crisis. Further research should be directed at timing of release decisions, based on reducing identified risk factors to acceptable levels.

Documenting Contact and Thinking with Skin: A Dermatological Approach to the Study of Police Street Checks

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Anita Lam ◽  
Timothy Bryan
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Racial Disparities ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Numerical Data ◽  
Quantitative Studies ◽  
Primary Object ◽  
Practice Projects

Abstract In contrast to quantitative studies that rely on numerical data to highlight racial disparities in police street checks, this article offers a qualitative methodology for examining how histories of anti-Blackness configure civilians’ experiences of present-day policing. Taking the Halifax Street Checks Report as our primary object of analysis, we apply an innovative dermatological approach, demonstrating how skin itself becomes meaningful when police officers and civilians make contact in the process of a street check. We explore how street checks become an occasion for epidermalization, whereby a law enforcement practice projects onto the skins of civilians locally specific histories and emotions. To think with skin, we focus on the narratives shared by African Nova Scotians, a group that has been street checked at higher rates than their white counterparts. By doing so, we argue that current debates about police street checks in Halifax must attend to the emotional stakes of police-initiated encounters in order to fully appreciate the lived experience of street checks for Black civilians.

scholarly journals “I Didn’t Know What They Wanted From Me”–the Perspective of Individuals with Mental Disorders on Police Interventions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linus Wittmann ◽  
Gunter Groen ◽  
Janusz Ogorka ◽  
Astrid Jörns-Presentati
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Disorder ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Police Training ◽  
Signs And Symptoms ◽  
Personal Space ◽  
Police Encounters

AbstractEncounters between individuals with a mental disorder and police forces can be harmful and dangerous for both parties involved. Previous research explored mostly police officers’ subjective experience of these encounters and focused on their recommendations. The present study takes the perspective of individuals with a mental disorder and investigates their subjective experience of dealing with the police. Thirteen semi-structural interviews were conducted with individuals with a history of mental health problems who have had encounters with the police and experienced contact-based anti-stigmatization interventions as consultants. Interviews revolved around the subjective experience of these police encounters. Questionnaires were used to inquire about context factors, individuals’ perceptions of police officers, and their sense of security during these encounters. Furthermore, individuals were asked to rate police officers’ ability to recognize signs and symptoms of ill mental health and give recommendations in regard to adequate communication strategies, interventions, and police training. The results indicate that encounters were experienced predominantly as positive and non-threatening. Participants emphasized the importance of communication strategies with a focus on empathy and respect. Keeping personal space and satisfying basic needs was recommended. Contact-based anti-stigmatization interventions were regarded as an effective approach to reduce stigma. Empathy and respect are perceived as key strategies for police officers when dealing with individuals with a mental disorder. To promote these strategies, trialogical anti-stigmatization interventions and crisis intervention training, including communication skills and face-to-face contact, are promising approaches.

scholarly journals “We're actually more of a likely ally than an unlikely ally”: relationships between syringe services programs and law enforcement

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Y. Franco ◽  
Angela E. Lee-Winn ◽  
Sara Brandspigel ◽  
Musheng L. Alishahi ◽  
Ashley Brooks-Russell
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Wound Care ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Treatment Programs ◽  
People Who Use Drugs ◽  
Positive Relationships ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Program Staff ◽  
Compliance With The Law

Abstract Background Syringe services programs provide sterile injection supplies and a range of health services (e.g., HIV and HEP-C testing, overdose prevention education, provision of naloxone) to a hard-to-reach population, including people who use drugs, aiming to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases. Methods We performed a qualitative needs assessment of existing syringe services programs in the state of Colorado in 2018–2019 to describe—their activities, needs, and barriers. Using a phenomenological approach, we performed semi-structured interviews with key program staff of syringe services programs (n = 11). All interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed, and validated. A data-driven iterative approach was used by researchers to develop a coding scheme to organize the data into major themes found across interviews. Memos were written to synthesize main themes. Results Nearly all the syringe program staff discussed their relationships with law enforcement at length. All syringe program staff viewed having a positive relationship with law enforcement as critical to the success of their program. Main factors that influence the quality of relationships between syringe services programs and law enforcement included: (1) alignment in agency culture, (2) support from law enforcement leadership, (3) police officers’ participation and compliance with the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program, which provides intensive case management for low-level drug offenders, and (4) implementation of the “Needle-Stick Prevention Law” and Drug Paraphernalia Law Exemption. All syringe program staff expressed a strong desire to have positive relationships with law enforcement and described how a collaborative working relationship was critical to the success of their programs. Conclusions Our findings reveal effective strategies to foster relationships between syringe services programs and law enforcement as well as key barriers to address. The need exists for both syringe services programs and law enforcement to devote time and resources to build a strong, positive partnership. Having such positive relationships with law enforcement has positive implications for syringe services program clients, including law enforcement being less likely to ticket persons for having used syringes, and encourage people who use drugs to seek services from syringe services programs, which can then lead them to other resources, such as housing, wound care, and substance use treatment programs.

scholarly journals Telepsychiatry adoption across hospitals in the United States: a cross-sectional study

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhong Li ◽  
Sayward E. Harrison ◽  
Xiaoming Li ◽  
Peiyin Hung
Keyword(s):  
Continuity Of Care ◽  
Psychiatric Care ◽  
The United States ◽  
Psychiatric Services ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Promising Alternative ◽  
American Hospital ◽  
American Hospital Association ◽  
Inpatient Psychiatric Care

Abstract Background Access to psychiatric care is critical for patients discharged from hospital psychiatric units to ensure continuity of care. When face-to-face follow-up is unavailable or undesirable, telepsychiatry becomes a promising alternative. This study aimed to investigate hospital- and county-level characteristics associated with telepsychiatry adoption. Methods Cross-sectional national data of 3475 acute care hospitals were derived from the 2017 American Hospital Association Annual Survey. Generalized linear regression models were used to identify characteristics associated with telepsychiatry adoption. Results About one-sixth (548 [15.8%]) of hospitals reported having telepsychiatry with a wide variation across states. Rural noncore hospitals were less likely to adopt telepsychiatry (8.3%) than hospitals in rural micropolitan (13.6%) and urban counties (19.4%). Hospitals with both outpatient and inpatient psychiatric care services (marginal difference [95% CI]: 16.0% [12.1% to 19.9%]) and hospitals only with outpatient psychiatric services (6.5% [3.7% to 9.4%]) were more likely to have telepsychiatry than hospitals with neither psychiatric services. Federal hospitals (48.9% [32.5 to 65.3%]), system-affiliated hospitals (3.9% [1.2% to 6.6%]), hospitals with larger bed size (Quartile IV vs. I: 6.2% [0.7% to 11.6%]), and hospitals with greater ratio of Medicaid inpatient days to total inpatient days (Quartile IV vs. I: 4.9% [0.3% to 9.4%]) were more likely to have telepsychiatry than their counterparts. Private non-profit hospitals (− 6.9% [− 11.7% to − 2.0%]) and hospitals in counties designated as whole mental health professional shortage areas (− 6.6% [− 12.7% to − 0.5%]) were less likely to have telepsychiatry. Conclusions Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, telepsychiatry adoption in US hospitals was low with substantial variations by urban and rural status and by state in 2017. This raises concerns about access to psychiatric services and continuity of care for patients discharged from hospitals.

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