Police Perceptions of Mental Health Problems in a Rural Area

• In Event: New Findings from the Smart Policing Initiative #1

Abstract

Police officers frequently respond to calls for service for individuals with mental health problems and serve as the channel through which individuals are directed to receive mental health treatment. However, resources and facilities for treatment are often limited in rural areas, which presents a challenge to officers who spend disproportionate amounts of time on these calls, in that it lessens time they are able to devote to patrol in the community. In two separate officer surveys, officers were asked to report on their perceptions of the challenges faced in responding to these calls in rural areas as well as their perceptions about how well a mental health intervention involving an on-site treatment referral process can address this issue. Officers express dissatisfaction with the current training they receive from programs such as Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT), which is often the only option available to them to handle these types of calls, aside from time consuming emergency custody orders (ECOs). The results also reveal that officers perceive partnership with mental health service providers could have a positive impact on individuals with mental health problems as well as the potential to reduce police workload.

Authors

• Paige St. Clair, George Mason University

• Sue-Ming Yang, George Mason University

• Charlotte Gill, George Mason University

• Caitlin Kanewske, George Mason University