Essay On Police And Mental Health

The Associations of Chiefs of Police created this website as a police informational site. It is an educational site that explains the hiring process, basic requirements, training and academy life, and skills candidates should process. The site also offer a virtual ride along. I can use this site to explain the training and academy life of a cadet.

As a whole, literature on the topic of mental illness in our country and specifically in our criminal justice system had a reoccurring theme. There are millions of individuals who suffer from mental illness but are improperly being handled through the criminal justice system. These individuals are deemed criminal just by their acts and their mental health state is not overly examine. Jails and prisons are being overcrowded. State prisons and jails are overpopulated anywhere from 15 to 32% (Spending Money in All the Wrong Places: Jails & Prisons).

Mental health and the criminal justice system have long been intertwined. Analyzing and understanding the links between these two subjects demands for a person to go in to depth in the fields of criminology, sociology, psychology, and psychiatry, because there are many points of view on whether or not a person’s criminal behavior is due to their mental health. Some believe that an unstable mental state of mind can highly influence a person’s decision of committing criminal actions. Others believe that mental health and crime are not related and that linking them together is a form of discrimination because it insinuates that those in our society that suffer from poor mental health are most likely to become a criminal due to their

Frighteningly, last year the UK police dealt with almost 300,000 incidents involving people suffering mental health illnesses! That isn’t to say of course that all of those incidents involved someone breaking the law. Quite often, when a sufferer of mental illness goes into crisis, the first port of call is the police. Are they to become the “Mental Health Police”?

Law enforcement interactions with the mentally ill community are increasing, due to a number of factors such as cuts on long-term psychiatric beds, improvements in treatments and the philosophy of integration (Adelman, 2003). Which leads to mentally ill people living in the community, which leads to increase crisis and police interaction because of insufficient funding. Existing community-based crisis response services are not well unified and are limited, especially in rural areas. General hospital-based emergency services can also be difficult to access because of bed reductions, and only offer treatment to those only that are seriously ill (e.g. be actively delusional or suicidal). As Eric Macnaughton states in his study BC Early

“The Memphis Police Department, CIT are police-based pre booking approach with specially trained officers that provide first line response to calls involving a person with mental illness and who acts as liaisons to the mental health system. Rooted in the problem solving approach, the Memphis Model aims to address the issues underlying the reason for the call than simply incapacitating the individual and removing him or her for the community.”(Draine,J.,Ottati,V.,Schaefer,M.Watson,A.2008. pg.361) Many of the models around the

The recent increase in emergency 9-1-1 calls involving mentally ill persons has heightened the awareness of the Criminal Justice System. Across the nation, law enforcement encounters with mentally ill persons have become more frequent, and the use of deadly force against mentally ill persons has increased. Since the deinstitutionalization of the mental health system, law enforcement officials have been tasked with controlling deviant and sometimes criminal behavior of persons who suffer from mental illness. As a result, law enforcement agencies have implemented crisis intervention training (CIT) and diversion tactics due to the numerous challenges faced when serving the mentally ill. Major deficiencies in the mental health system and State legislations have hindered progressive efforts towards assisting mentally ill persons. With the dramatic consequences associated with untreated mental illness, it is certain that law enforcement officers will experience an encounter requiring knowledge, specialized training, and the ability to build collaborative partnerships.

Crimes have become more “front row” to those who witness it on 4 o’clock news. So, with this new found crime the need to reach into the lives of police officers who not only witness these crimes first hand, but receive awful discrimination and face the challenge of remaining ‘normal’ in our society. Are Police officers with mental disorders receiving the proper attention, and if so should they be allowed to be active in the force?

The Clinical specificity hypothesis states that “psycho-pathological profiles determine different types of psychosocial functioning and lead to particular interactions with the social environment, especially with health care services use” (Côté G, Lesage A, Chawky N, et al., 1997, as sited in Dumais, Côté, and Lesage, 2010, p. 173). The legal status of and individual and whether they end up in a correctional facility or health care facility will determine what type of treatment they will receive. This reasoning can directly relate to individuals who suffer from mental illness and their interactions to the criminal justice system.

In the book, Crazy, by Pete Earley, provides a detailed overview of the mental health system in the United States, as it presents a first hand narrative of Earley’s family journey through the system. The author’s major premise and arguments, in the book, is to highlight the history of mental health, navigation through the judicial system with mental illness, the bureaucracy and policies of hospitals, society views on human rights and client safety, and the impact on the individual, family, and community. The content suggests that human service workers and public health workers should extend their professional lens to advocate for change in the mental health system in the United States.

Attitudes toward the mentally ill started to change in the 60’s and 70’s from both the communities and professionals. The two began to recognize that the mentally ill had rights to live an independent life style like that of ordinary citizens. Before this, people with mental illness or developing disabilities had been institutionalized, giving strong medications, sedated and isolated from the rest of society. Living amongst the community, they receive their medication as well as interact with the general public. In addition, they also interact with security personnel and law enforcement officers, and all too frequently with unfortunate consequences. (Russell, 2012).

For the purpose of this week’s discussion, I decided to confer the Lanterman Petris Short Act, endorsed in 1968 in California, thus founding particular necessities for the proviso of mental health facilities in the civic. In addition, the circumstances are establishments of unintentional confinement by peace officers and individuals elected by the Act. The Lanterman Petris Short Act, is for individuals, “who,” are to be austerely disable, and threaten harm to themselves, and others around them; therefore, individuals could possibly be taken into protective watch for 72 hours, in the effect of mental malady (Moore, 2015).

According to a 2007 research study, some of the most popular labels used to describe people with a mental illness are the terms nuts, psycho, crazy, loony, weird and freak (Rose, Diana, et al. 4). But, what about labels for people with a brain tumor, cancer, diabetes or leukemia? There are no research studies regarding derogatory labels for physical illnesses because few physical illnesses are as feared and highly stigmatized as mental illness. This stigmatization and fear of mental illness is a contributing factor in the numerous challenges faced by law enforcement officers responding to calls involving an individual suffering from mental illness. One possible solution to help officers respond to these calls more effectively is called Crisis

For the mentally ill and the relationship with the police it can be hard to maintain since most calls to handle them are disruption problems, with some being from family members and other calls coming from businesspeople and landlords that think the mentally ill will interfere with business. With seven to ten percent of police officer having this contact with the mentally ill. In Massachusetts, fifty percent 18 to 25-year-old had received treatment, but had been arrested ten years following the treatment.

     Linda A. Teplin says that “police involvement with mentally ill persons is grounded in two common law principles: (1) The power and responsibility of the police to protect the safety and