Abstract
Persons with mental illness (PMI) often come into contact with police, sometimes simply because their mental illness is manifesting in their behaviors. At the same time, many officers in the USA lack the proper training to handle situations involving PMI, which can result in deadly outcomes. Police need effective training in mental health education and de-escalation techniques for interactions with PMI. However, little is known about whether officers are receiving the training they believe they need. The purpose of this study is to explore police officers’ perceptions on whether the training they have received is helpful during situations with PMI. A sample of 217 men and women who are currently working in policing agencies in Pennsylvania were interviewed between February and April 2019. Results show that the majority (55.6%) of police officers surveyed frequently interact with PMI and only 21.8% of officers were trained in de-escalation techniques specifically for incidents involving PMI. Although officers felt prepared to handle situations, those who had more experience on the job tended to feel more prepared to handle such situations (p < 0.10).
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Acknowledgments
Special thanks to Baha Bachnak, John Balint, Courtney Bennett, Andrew Boob, Dillon Coursen, Emily Courtney, Michael De Leon-Torres, Eric Dressler, Joselyn Ferrer, Sami Hamouda, Emma Heyd, Katelyn Humphrey, Peter Kenny, Thomas Mullaly, Tyler Podunajec, Brad Richards, Myasia Taylor, Darren Toomey, Casey Winters, Daniel Yanich and Travis Zechman for their research assistance. The authors also thank Dr. Kelly Holder, Dr. David Witwer and the Pennsylvania State University Justice and Safety Institute for their help with the project and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.
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Richmond, M., Gibbs, J.C. Police Perceptions of Training on Interactions with Persons with Mental Illness. J Police Crim Psych 36, 268–275 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-020-09409-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-020-09409-8