Police Encounters Mental Illness

Mental Illness has been prevalent all throughout our history from Isaac Newton to Abraham Lincoln to Sylvia Plath and so on. These illnesses can be as minor as a slight bipolar disorder or as severe as schizophrenia. In recent years, mental illnesses are becoming more prevalent in our criminal justice systems than anywhere else. Mental illness is becoming an association with crime and based on the information that has been found, this paper will attempt to further define the problem of mental illness within our criminal justice system and offer alternatives or insights as to how to possibly help with this problem.

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

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.

“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

Formal options (hospitalization and arrest) may be time consuming for the officer as well as not be in the best interest for the person that is mentally ill whereas, sometimes officers are sometimes left unable to resolve the matter informally because of the inexperience and unfamiliarity with de-escalation techniques. Law enforcement officers are trained to assess the situation and take the best course of action to resolve the issues, especially when dealing with the mental health community the goal is that the situation can be resolves peacefully. However, recent interactions between law enforcement agencies and mentally ill suspects have had some disappointing results (Teplin, 2000).

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”?

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 system is broken, and I do not expect police to get the required training to become the first responders for mental health just to have to arrest the perpetrator again two days later. That is not fair for our police officers who are going to get the training. I think a big problem between police officers and people with mental health is the stigma society has created towards mental health. People especially police officers assume people with mental health are going to be violent and that is how police officers are trained to handle a situation. If someone is violent police immediately get prepared for the situation to escalate. Police officers may draw their guns to be prepared to do anything possible for the safety of the public, but I do not think that is always the right approach. Nurses in a hospital do not carry a gun, but in some cases they have patients who threaten them and the patient might have a weapon, but they do not have a way to defend themselves they have the training and knowledge on mental health to defuse the situation. I think we can train police to be able to defuse a situation. Police officers need to step away from the stigma on mental health to do

The police officers are trained to observe, predict, and react. They maintain the order and reinforce the law in our society. It is estimated that as many as 10% of all police interactions involve persons with severe mental illness (SMI) and that of all incarcerated individuals, 14.5% males, and 31% females suffer

From police interaction of the mentally ill, Crisis Intervention Training has been born with the focus on police officers being able to identify individuals who may be suffering from various type of mental illness. In addition to being able to identify if a person is suffering from a mental disorder, the training also teaches officers the skills to communicate with them in hopes to de-escalate the tense situation peacefully (Russell, 2012).

The purpose of Rick Parents (2011) study was to shed a light on policing tactics and use of force when dealing with a situation containing a person suffering from a mental illness, and how to properly distinguish when the use of force in necessary. Rick Parent (2011) has also brought to light the training techniques in place that help officers make the best possible decisions in moments of crisis, and how further examining those training techniques and improving upon them can potentially have an overall positive effect on the officer and the suspect.

This research paper discusses the issues of people who suffer from mental illness being placed in jails instead of receiving the necessary treatment they need. The number of inmates serving time in jail or prison who suffer from mental illness continues to rise. In 2015 the Bureau of Justice reported that sixty five percent of state prisoners and fourth five percent of federal prisoners suffered from mental conditions such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Individuals who suffer from these problems require special mental health treatment for their needs to be met. Many of our prisons and jails lack the necessary resources to care for these inmates and because of that inmates who do not receive the treatment they need are at a higher risk of becoming a repeat offender. Despite the research and findings that show that the criminal justice system is unable to deal with issues dealing with the mentally ill there has been limited solutions put in place. Given the challenges the criminal justice system faces it is important to address the problem and come up with better solutions. This research paper will discuss the various techniques and solutions that scholars have propped and their effect on the issue of mentally ill criminals and how the criminal justice system should approach the problem.

Barr says the criminal justice system is” continuously expanding,” and police have virtually no training or resources for handling people in psychiatric crises. She says in New York City, over one million people suffer from mental illness, with 100,000 people living with severe on going psychiatric problems such as schizophrenia. Additinally Barr states, an estimated 12,000 mentally ill homeless people live on the streets. She says the New York City Police Department responds to every 911 call regrading a person in psychiatric distress, regardless of whether a crime has been committed. She says annually, the New York City Police Department responds to at least 50,000 calls involving EDPs or (“emotion-ally disturbed persons”).

Families are often the main support system for people affected by mental illness. If a

     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