scholarly journals Police Response To Mental Health-Related Calls for Service in the City of Watsonville

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Perez
2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tarah Hodgkinson ◽  
Martin A. Andresen

Mental health–related calls for service are increasing across Canadian communities. However, the spatial dynamics of these calls for service and their potential relationship with concentrations of crime has not been fully investigated in the Canadian context. The current study examines mental health and other calls for service in a medium-sized (approximate population of 250,000), midwestern Canadian city in the year 2014. Using kernel density analysis and a spatial point pattern test, the study explores the concentration and spatial patterns of mental health calls for service across the city. Findings indicate that mental health calls for service differ from other crime-related calls for service, except for violent crime. Possible explanations for this pattern and considerations for policy and policing are discussed.


Author(s):  
Adam Vaughan ◽  
Kathryn E. Wuschke ◽  
Ashley N. Hewitt ◽  
Tarah Hodgkinson ◽  
Martin A. Andresen ◽  
...  

Purpose Investigating the day of week and hour of day temporal patterns of crime typically show that (late) nights and weekends are the prime time for criminal activity. Though instructive, mental-health-related calls for service are a significant component of police service to the community that have not been a part of this research. The purpose of this paper is to analyze calls for police service that relate to mental health, using intimate partner/domestic related calls for police service for context. Design/methodology/approach Approximately 20,000 mental health related and 20,000 intimate partner/domestic related calls for police service are analyzed. Intra-week and intra-day temporal patterns are analyzed using circular statistics. Findings Mental-health-related calls for police service have a distinct temporal pattern for both days of the week and hours of the day. Specifically, these calls for police service peak during the middle of the week and in the mid-afternoon. Originality/value This is the first analysis regarding the temporal patterns of police calls for service for mental health-related calls. The results have implications for police resourcing and scheduling, especially in the context of special teams for addressing mental health-related calls for police service.


Author(s):  
Encarnación Sarriá ◽  
Patricia Recio ◽  
Ana Rico ◽  
Manuel Díaz-Olalla ◽  
Belén Sanz-Barbero ◽  
...  

Over the past few decades, the financial system has engaged in abusive practices that meet the definition of fraud. Our objective is to compare the prevalence of psychological distress and levels of health-related quality of life according to having been exposed to financial fraud and its economic impact on family finances. The City of Madrid Health Survey 2017 included specific questions on exposure to financial fraud—this section was administered to half of the participants (n = 4425). Mental health need or caseness was defined by a score greater than two on the 12-item version of the Goldberg health questionnaire. Health-related quality of life was assessed by the Darmouth Coop Functional Health Assessment Charts/WONCA (COOP/WONCA). The prevalence of financial fraud was 10.8%. The prevalence rate ratio for caseness of those who experienced severe economic impact due to fraud was 1.62 (95%, CI 1.17–2.25; reference: no fraud), after adjustment by age, sex, social class, and immigrant status. Women experienced a decreased quality of life, even with a moderate impact of fraud, while men experienced a decreased quality of life related to fraud with severe economic impact. The current study contributes to a growing body of literature showing the effects of economic shocks on health as a result of financial fraud.


Author(s):  
Kim M Lersch

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore the rate and geographic distribution of 911 calls for service related to mental health issues during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the City of Detroit, MI, USA. The results suggest that the total number of calls for mental health issues was at the lowest level when compared with the same time period for the previous 3 years. Furthermore, as both the daily reported COVID-19 cases and related deaths increased over time, there was a significant decline in both suicide threats and suicides in progress. Significant hot spots were found for the total calls as well as for threats of suicide. These hot spots did not coincide with the spatial distribution of reported cases of COVID-19 by ZIP code. While higher and lower areas of reported cases were found, these differences by ZIP code were not found to be significant. When compared with the previous 3 years of data, the hot spot area was much smaller in 2020, implying that the mental health-related calls for service were more evenly spread throughout the city.


FACETS ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 424-448
Author(s):  
Laura Huey ◽  
Lorna Ferguson ◽  
Adam D. Vaughan

Significant public discourse has focused recently on police–civilian interactions involving with persons with mental illness (PMI). Despite increasing public attention, and growing demands for policy change, little is actually known about the myriad of ways in which Canadian police encounter PMI in the context of routine police work. To assist policymakers in developing evidence-informed policy, this paper attempts to shed light on present difficulties associated with addressing fundamental questions, such as the prevalence of mental health related issues in police calls for service. To do this, we attempt to map the size and scope of police calls for service involving PMI, drawing on both the available scientific data and the limited knowledge to be gleaned from available police reports. Our focus is on two broad categories of police interactions with citizens: public safety concerns (wellness checks, suicide threats, missing persons, mental health apprehensions) and crime prevention and response (encountering PMI as victims–complainants and (or) as potential suspects). We also explore the challenges policy-makers face in relying on police data and the importance of overcoming weaknesses in data collection and sharing in relation to the policing of uniquely vulnerable groups. This paper concludes with some key recommendations for addressing gaps highlighted.


2021 ◽  
pp. 140349482110454
Author(s):  
Jaakko Harkko ◽  
Hertta Ranta ◽  
Tea Lallukka ◽  
Hilla Nordquist ◽  
Minna Mänty ◽  
...  

Background: The associations between adverse working conditions and mental disorders are well established. However, associations between adverse working conditions and poor mental health functioning is a less explored area. This study examines these associations among younger public sector employees of the City of Helsinki, Finland. Methods: We use data from the Young Helsinki Health Study with a representative sample of the employees of the City of Helsinki, aged 19–39 years ( n=4 217). Mental health functioning was measured with mental composite summary of the Short Form 36. Working conditions included factors related to both the psychosocial (job control and job demands) and the physical work environment (physical workload). To examine the associations, we used logistic regression models with adjustments for socio-demographics, other working conditions and health-related covariates. Results: After adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, poor health, health behaviours and other occupational exposures, high job demands (OR=1.69; 95% CI=1.45–1.97) and low job control (OR=1.65; 95% CI=1.40–1.94) were associated with poor mental health functioning. High physical workload was not associated with the outcome (OR=0.87; 95% CI=0.72–1.05) after the adjustments. Conclusions: Adverse psychosocial working conditions were associated with mental health functioning, whereas physical working conditions were not. As impaired functioning is likely to cause health-related lost productivity and can lead to work disability, further research and interventions with a balanced approach focusing on both psychosocial working conditions and mental health functioning are recommended.


Author(s):  
Clair White ◽  
Victoria Goldberg

Purpose A strong body of research has established the concentration of crime in a small number of street segments or “hot spots” throughout urban cities, but the spatial distribution of mental health-related calls for services is less well known. The extent to which these calls are concentrated on a small number of street segments, similar to traditional crime calls for service is understudied. The purpose of this paper is to examine the concentration of mental health calls and the spatial distribution of street segments with mental health calls to provide directions for law enforcement and place-based policing. Design/methodology/approach Using call for service data from a large city on the East coast, the current study examines whether mental health calls for service are concentrated on street segments, and tests spatial dispersion to whether these “mental health hot spots” are spread throughout the city or clustered in space. Finally, the authors explore the relationship between mental health calls and violent and drug calls by calculating the correlation and using a spatial point pattern test to determine if mental health calls are spatially similar to violent and drug calls. Findings The authors found that mental health calls are concentrated on street segments; specifically 22.4 percent of calls are located on 0.5 percent of city street segments. Additionally, these street segments are fairly dispersed throughout the city. When comparing the spatial similarity of mental health calls to violent and drug calls, they are highly correlated suggesting a relationship between the calls types, but the location of mental health calls appears to be different from violet and drug calls. Originality/value Very few studies have examined the location of mental health calls and whether they are concentrated in small areas similar to crime, but such research can provide police officers new approaches to working with people with mental health problems. The police are the primary emergency response for calls involving someone with a mental illness or experiencing a mental health crisis and the authors provide suggestions for policing that draw from strategies used in hot spot policing and mental health responses, like CIT, to address challenges of modern policing and working with people with mental health problems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Ynhi Thomas ◽  
Sara Andrabi ◽  
Nidal Moukaddam ◽  
Asim Shah ◽  
Greg Buehler ◽  
...  

Background: While the volume of Emergency Department (ED) visits has declined during the 2019 novel coronavirus disease or COVID-19, the opposite has been observed with mental-health related visits. The need to screen and manage potential COVID-19 symptoms in parallel with psychiatric complaints have imposed new challenges in the ED at an academic public hospital.Objective: The objective is to share operational modifications in addressing the challenges related to the influx of ED mentalhealth related complaints at the departmental, hospital-wide, and city-wide level within an academic, public hospital.Methods: At the departmental level, a triage algorithm for screening patients with concerning symptoms was developed. A dedicated Respiratory Decision Unit with psychiatrically safe rooms that adhered to infection prevention protocol was also created. All staff were trained to utilize personal protective equipment through lectures, asynchronous learning, and multidisciplinary simulations. The ED team worked with hospital leadership to increase inpatient medical psychiatric bed capacity and to develop testing protocols for patients being admitted to allow for cohorting of symptomatic patients. At the city level, leadership within the three main organizations that provide mental health services to the city met regularly to address operational issues.Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed new challenges in terms of increased psychosocial needs while limiting transmission risks. Based on the experiences shared, a multitier approach is necessary. At all levels, the goals were to screen appropriately, decrease transmission risk, and maintain throughput. The purpose of this descriptive manuscript is to encourage dialogue and to raise awareness about the unique needs of the mental health system.


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