Law Enforcement and Persons with Mental Illness: Responding Responsibly

Abstract

According to a Washington Post database, in the USA, police-involved shootings have killed over 5680 people since January 1, 2015, with 1359 (23%) of those deaths involving a person with a mental illness. It has been asserted by Fuller et al. that people with an untreated mental illness are approximately 16 times more likely to be killed in a police-involved shooting than other community members. In response to this issue, several practices have been implemented to help prevent negative outcomes in police and person with mental illness interactions and promote safety for all involved parties. Three practices have developed into models for police departments which include the following: Community Oriented Policing, Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) programs and training, and co-responder mental health teams. In addition to the foregoing three practices, other individual-level approaches and techniques can be implemented that are evidence-informed, such as increased utilization of stress-reduction training techniques and implicit bias training. Based on an additional examination of the existing literature, this problem can be addressed at the macro level, through amending policies and procedures (e.g., use-of-force guidelines, use of community-review board) as well as increased access to non-lethal weapons, presence of civilians on the police staff roster, and utilization of special consideration response registries. This review aims to incorporate existing literature in an effort to synthesize best practice responses for law enforcement in improving outcomes related to interactions with persons with mental illness.