Abstract
There have been repeated instances of police forces having violent, sometimes fatal, interactions with individuals with mental illness. Police forces are frequently first responders to those with mental illness. Despite this, training police in how to best interact with individuals who have a mental illness has been poorly studied. The present article reviews the literature examining mental illness training programs delivered to law-enforcement officers. Some of the key findings are the benefits of training utilizing realistic “hands-on” scenarios, which focus primarily on verbal and non-verbal communication, increasing empathy, and de-escalation strategies. Current issues in training police officers are firstly the tendency for organizations to provide training without proper outcome measures of effectiveness, secondly the focus of training is on changing attitudes although there is little evidence to demonstrate this relates to behavioral change, and thirdly the belief that a mental health training program given on a single occasion is sufficient to improve interactions over the longer-term. Future police training needs to address these issues.
Highlights
Effective police mental health trainingMental Health Training Program We have previously developed a comprehensive 1-day mental health training program, created at the University of Alberta in partnership with the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) [10]
Importance of Police Research Police and other law-enforcement officers are frequently the first-line responders to those suffering from a psychiatric crisis
Taking all of these into consideration, the current review proposes a focus on specific aspects of training that must be enhanced to improve outcomes, and how this research should best be carried out in collaboration with police forces
Summary
Mental Health Training Program We have previously developed a comprehensive 1-day mental health training program, created at the University of Alberta in partnership with the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) [10]. Actor feedback focused on positive behaviors as well as behaviors that could be improved upon such as non-verbal communication skills (body language, facial language, and active listening) and verbal communication skills (tone of voice, word choice, portrayed empathy, rapport, and de-escalation techniques). This feedback provides a unique link for each officer regarding how their behavior affected those they interact with, and increased their behavioral self-awareness. These outcomes emphasize the positive impact of this focused training program
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