Policing and Mental Health


Book Description

This book explores the relationship between policing and mental health. Police services around the world are innovating at pace in order to develop solutions to the problems presented, and popular models are being shared internationally. Nevertheless, disparities and perceptions of unfairness remain commonplace. Innovations remain poorly funded and largely unproven. Drawing together the insights of eminent academics in the UK, the US, Australia and South Africa, the edited collection evaluates the condition of mental health and policing as an interlocked policy area, uncovering and addressing a number of key issues which are shaping police responses to mental health. Due to a relative lack of academic texts pertaining to developments in England and Wales, the volume contains a distinct section on relevant policies and practices. It also includes sections on US and Australian approaches, focusing on Crisis Intervention Teams (CITs), Mental Health Intervention Teams (MHITs), stressors and innovations from Boston in the US to Queensland in Australia. Written in a clear and direct style, this book will appeal to students and scholars in policing, criminology, sociology, mental health, cultural studies, social theory and those interested in learning about the condition and trajectory of police responses to mental health.




Police Response to Mental Health Calls for Service


Book Description

"This book explores the impact that training has on officer decision-making during calls for service where an individual has a mental health disorder, from both an empirical and historical perspective"--




Improving Police Response to Persons with Mental Illness


Book Description

The Ghostbusters refrain "Who you gonna call?" typically connotes a lighthearted response to an unusual problem, but in the context of a human being suffering a mental health crisis, the refrain is anything but lighthearted. In an ideal world, "who you gonna call" would be a trained mental health professional. In the real world, the cry for help is usually received by the police. Police respond because there is no one else to assist. Police officers rank mental health crisis situations as far more stressful than crimes in progress. A person, suffering from mental illness is, by definition, not fully rational. Although they are likewise not fully irrational, behavior is unpredictable, and unpredictable behavior for the police is potentially dangerous behavior. As a consequence, outcomes of engagement between law enforcement and mental health consumers are too often tragic. No organization is more concerned about inadequate response than the police themselves. Improving Police Response to Mental Illness provides best practices guidance. A national pool of experts provide both insight and recommendations, ranging from the conceptual, Atypical Situations-Atypical Responses, to the pragmatic, Law Enforcement Training Models. Written specifically for the book, each chapter addresses a given critical component, including social policy, police response alternatives, training, legal constraints, and cooperative agreements with mental health service providers. This is an indispensable volume on the subject of police and mental health and is designed for police practitioners, mental health professionals, and scholars of social policy.




Occupation Under Siege


Book Description

This book brings to the forefront the realization that a successful police career involves not only surviving the danger involved in policing but also psychological survival. In this book, a mixed approach is employed that includes research and some practical suggestions from practitioners on how best to deal with the police health crisis. It is based on research associated with police mental health together with the subsequent effects on officers' performance, physical health, and lifestyle. It begins by outlining the current challenges faced by police, including increased civil unrest, negative public reactions, and a biological siege brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and depression are reviewed and how these two conditions have been shown to promote negative health issues such as cardiovascular disease and gastrointestinal disorders, comorbid psychological conditions as well as suicide. Resilience is also discussed and its role in ameliorating stress. An overview of factors related to resilience is provided and some of the mechanisms that underpin resilience in police work are examined. Additionally, suggestions are made that may help police organizations foster resiliency in officers. The final chapter asks the question, "Where do we go from here?" The chapter discusses current legislation that will help police deal with the problem of psychological and physical health and suicide. Interventions discussed include the need for wellness programs, reducing stress through the police organization, peers support development, the use of mindfulness as a stress reduction strategy, PTSD mitigation, and reducing the fatigue health effects of shift work.




Police Response to Mental Health in Canada


Book Description

The overwhelming majority of police calls involve individuals with mental health experiences and yet limited resources exist to prepare first responders for these interactions. Police Response to Mental Health in Canada addresses this gap in the field, providing practical guidance to police studies students on how best to respond to mental health-related calls in both critical and non-critical situations.In addition, this book focuses on the mental health of policing professionals by addressing common mental health symptoms and providing strategies to improve the mental health wellness of policing professionals. Aligned with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, (DSM-5) criteria, this text provides in-depth explanations of the mental health conditions commonly encountered in policing, including mood, psychosis, personality, substance abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorders. Written in an accessible style, this book includes pedagogical tools such as scenario-based learning, case studies, reflection questions, group activities, and chapter summaries to reinforce the learning objectives outlined at the start of each chapter. With the increasing demand for law enforcement officials to be better informed and prepared to interact with those experiencing mental health issues, this is a timely resource for students in college and university police studies programs. FEATURES: - Learning objectives, case studies, and discussion questions - Contributions from leaders in fields of health services, psychology, criminology, policing, and corrections - Discussion of Canadian issues that are relevant across the country, including police relations with Indigenous populations and incidents of gang-related violence




Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement


Book Description

This book is designed to help law enforcement professionals overcome the internal assaults they experience both personally and organizationally over the course of their careers. These assaults can transform idealistic and committed officers into angry, cynical individuals, leading to significant problems in both their personal and professional lives.




Mental Health and De-Escalation


Book Description

The law enforcement proffesion is dynamically changing with the times. Our training must do the same. Mental health interactions are one of the biggest law enforcement struggles. Our training is very limited to the police academy and somtimes field training. Ernest Stevens from the award winning HBO documentary "Ernie & Joe Crisis Cops" and Best selling author Nicholas Ruggiero take you through some great training and resources to learn the skill of de-escalation during mental health calls for service.




Breaking the Barriers


Book Description

Unacceptably high rates of stress, anxiety, sleeplessness, and divorce have plagued the law enforcement profession for decades. Ask most police officers, firefighters, paramedics, prison guards, and anyone associated with police wellness and they will tell you "everything is fine." Yet the rate of police suicide continues to climb because of the profession's stigma against seeking help. Officers embrace their responsibility "to preserve and protect" by taking care of others ... but who is taking care of them? Through interviews with some of the most renowned professionals in their fields, author and speaker Dr. Ron Rufo, a highly decorated, 22-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department, puts a spotlight on the importance of seeking mental health intervention before a minor issue becomes a major crisis. In Breaking the Barrier, Rufo's fourth book and his second on police wellness, he explains why emotional wellness is as essential as officers' tactical training. He and dozens of supportive professionals-from the fields of psychology, sleep medicine, religion, leadership management, epidemiology and environmental health, holistic medicine, exercise physiology, and alternative medicine-offer strategies to achieve and maintain emotional, physical, psychological, and spiritual wellness throughout an officer's career. Ron Rufo is on a crusade to rid the law enforcement profession of its constant and relentless shadow of despair. After describing the history of the police culture that contributes to today's physical and mental health issues, he presents a cornucopia of tools for intervention and support to help all law enforcement officers achieve a work/life balance that will lead to a long, healthy, and well-deserved retirement.




Policing Mental Health


Book Description

This brief addresses the question of the various ways in which mental health-related issues have become police responsibility. It provides a detailed understanding of the myriad of ways in which police are often called upon to be the primary responder to mental health-related issues, well beyond the standard media images of individuals in extreme crisis. Drawing upon the results of two separate ethnographies of police practices in Canada, this volume examines how public policing has become entangled in cases of persons with mental illness (PMI). It examines two aspects of the police role and mandate that brings police officers into contact with individuals dealing with mental health disorders: public safety, and crime prevention and response. It explores police perceptions towards the roles they play in the lives of PMI, and police demands in these types of calls for service that have transformed aspects of public policing. Appropriate for policing researchers, law enforcement and public policymakers, this book presents the argument that tackling this matter requires knowledge of police involvement in situations with PMI, as well as a set of evidence-based policy options that will not generate additional resource or other strains.




Policing, Mental Illness and Media


Book Description

This book examines the complexities of the relationship between policing and mental health – in Australia especially – including the circumstances that lead to police use of force, and the ways in which news media typically report deaths resulting from police contact with people in mental health crisis. When a vulnerable member of society is killed by the police, it is only natural that questions are asked about the behaviour and actions of those involved. Police are, after all, meant to be the ‘protectors of society’. By virtue of these circumstances, fatal encounters between police and mentally ill individuals in crisis often attract heightened media and legal attention, as well as public debate. Drawing together research interviews and extensive case study analysis, the book explores the conditions for the production of this news media coverage, the ways in which it can shape public perceptions of police-involved mental health crisis interventions, and the potential impacts on those involved in and affected by such events. The implications for police agencies are also considered in the context of how they respond to vulnerable people in the community, while being in the media spotlight. This book will appeal to students, scholars and practitioners in journalism, media studies, policing, criminology, sociology, and mental health as well as those interested in learning about the relationship between policing, mental illness, and media representation.