Police encounters involving citizens with mental illness: use of resources and outcomes
Article [Author's Original]
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Psychiatric services ; vol. 65, no. 4, pp. 511-516.Publisher(s)
American Psychiatric PublishingAffiliation
Abstract(s)
Objective: Few studies have addressed use of resources in police interventions involving
individuals with mental illness. The time police officers spend on interventions is a
straightforward measure with significant administrative weight, given that it addresses human
resource allocation. This study compared the characteristics of police interventions involving
individuals with mental illness and a control sample of individuals without mental illness.
Methods: A total of 6,128 police interventions in Montreal, Québec, were analyzed by using a
retrospective analysis of police intervention logs from three days in 2006. Interventions involving
citizens with (N=272) and without (N=5,856) mental illness were compared by reason for the
intervention, the use of arrest, and the use of police resources. Results: Police interventions
involving individuals with mental illness were less likely than those involving individuals without
mental illness to be related to more severe offenses. However, interventions for minor offenses
were more likely to lead to arrest when they involved citizens with mental illness. Interventions
for reasons of equal severity were twice as likely to lead to arrest if the citizen involved had a
mental illness. After controlling for the use of arrest and the severity of the situation, the analysis
showed that police interventions involving individuals with mental illness used 87% more
resources than interventions involving individuals without mental illness. Conclusions: Future
studies using administrative police data sets could investigate the use of resources and division
of costs involved in new programs or partnerships to better address the interface of criminal
justice and mental health care.
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