Mental Health Outreach
“This is about the opportunity to function as a guardian before we have to function as a warrior.”
Here’s how you can be more prepared
Training, tactics and tools give officers options for resolving potential conflict without contact
People in mental crisis present challenges — to law enforcement as well as hospitals — and too often fall between the cracks
Of the nearly 50,000 annual crisis-related calls for service, the San Francisco Police Department used force only 51 times
The social worker identified his attacker as a dangerous man who had tried to kill a Holyoke police officer years before
Mayor Libby Schaaf criticized the council’s action, saying it effectively “cuts “50 police officers who respond to Oaklanders’ 911 calls”
A look at some of the reforms police agencies and cities have implemented
Whenever officers respond to calls, they must constantly assess the mission they are tasked with – and that mission can change at any time
The department’s strategic plan, which was launched in 2019, aims to reduce social harms, including mental health issues, substance abuse and fear of crime
A recent survey of 1,000 adults shows fewer than one in 10 recommend mental health professionals respond alone with no public safety personnel
The program will begin by focusing on people with suicidal ideations and without weapons before scaling up, officials said
A mental health professional acting as an on-scene consultant to police officers can reduce the likelihood of the situation escalating to violence
A pilot program provides the right tools and the right people to help navigate the complex challenges that arise with the homeless population
Officers who use simulation training programs are more confident, use less force
Reality-based scenarios can help improve communication techniques to reduce use of force in calls involving people in emotional distress
The cop-crafted scenarios and varied outcomes offered by VirTra help officers practice making decisions in real time to develop more effective de-escalation tactics
The efforts of two Texas police officers have helped change the way police respond to mental health calls
The film follows two Texas police officers in their quest to improve outcomes for mental crisis calls
COPS Office report summarizes creative ways LE agencies are deploying community policing principles
Research indicates that rural locations have higher rates of mental illness, opiate addiction and suicide than urban areas
The specially trained teams, which consist of both cops and mental health clinicians, are asking for more officers
“What we heard from the community is there’s an opportunity to actually bring some relief to the officers and what they have to do in the community.”
When social service professionals are properly integrated into departments, they can provide community members with the much-needed services they’re seeking
Dr. Nikki Johnson is the Denver Sheriff Department’s first chief of mental health services and is charged with improving in-custody mental health services
Police will still respond to calls involving a weapon or “imminent risk of harm”
The Connecticut proposal would be a major expansion of voluntary registry programs already in place at a large number of PDs across the country
The team responded to 748 low-level calls since June, none of which required police or led to jail time, according to a new progress report
Tech-facilitated improvements in coordination, collaboration and communication enable officers to deliver a more effective and safer response
The Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets unit, CAHOOTS for short, sends teams of medics and trained mental health workers to urgent calls for medical or psychological help instead of police
The court framed its task as determining not whether officers used best police practices but whether they violated the subject’s rights under the Fourth Amendment
LEOs often interact with the same mentally ill individuals again and again. Here are three solutions for breaking the cycle.
BART Senior Officer Eric Hofstein has spent years patrolling downtown stations, trying to assist people in crisis
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