People Experiencing Mental Crisis Less Likely to Face Arrest When Police Pair With MH Professionals

Individuals experiencing a mental health crisis were less likely to be arrested following a 911 call if a police officer and mental health professional responded to the call together compared with if the police responded alone, according to areport published Thursday in Psychiatric Services in Advance.Katie Bailey, M.P.A., and Bradley Ray, Ph.D., of Wayne State University in Indiana and colleagues analyzed data collected as part of a co-response team (CRT) pilot in an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department from August 1 through December 31, 2017. The team —involving a police officer trained in crisis intervention, a master’s-level mental health professional, and a local EMS paramedic—responded when 911 calls involved a person with suspected mental health or substance use issues, including suicidal ideation; indicated a need for an officer train ed in crisis intervention; and/or involved a person who frequently used emergency services.The researchers compared the outcomes of people who received CRT responses to 911 calls with people who received treatment-as-usual responses to 911 calls (calls received by separate Indianapolis police districts). The authors examined two immediate outcomes following the CRT or treatment-as-usual response: jail booking (within 24 hours of the 911 call) and emergency detention (involuntary admittance to a hospital). They also compared the groups ’ subsequent EMS contacts and jail bookings six months and 12 months after the 911 call.I...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: arrest booking co-response team crisis intervention emergency medical services EMS Indianapolis jail mental crisis Psychiatric Services Source Type: research