Police Pre-arrest Strategies for Diverting People with Mental Health Issues: A Systematic Review of the Impacts on Crime and Mental Health

• In Event: Jail Diversion and Mental Health Court

Abstract

In Europe and North America, there is a growing imperative to improve police responses to people with mental health issues (PMHI). There are a range of negative outcomes and resource implications associated with a high number of police interactions with PMHI. Consequently, a range of novel approaches have been developed around the world to intercept PMHI’s entry into the criminal justice system. Police delivered interventions that identify PMHI and divert them away from the system, rather than arrest, is one such model. Approaches vary but examples include dedicated police-based teams (e.g. ‘Crisis Intervention Teams’) or partnerships with mental health professionals (e.g. ‘Mobile Crisis Team’) that respond to incidences involving PMHI. This paper seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of these approaches: do police pre-arrest, diversion strategies serve to reduce crime and improve mental health outcomes? This paper uses systematic review methods to bring together high quality research studies on this topic. The methods involve a comprehensive search of the international literature, quality appraisal and synthesis of the findings. This research was commissioned as part of the What Works Centre for Crime Reduction (England, UK), in order to expand the evidence base and inform policy and practice.

Authors

• Karen Schucan Bird, UCL Institute of Education

• Carol Vigurs, UCL Institute of Education