The Role of Police Officers in Mental Health Intervention

This essay provides a detailed examination of the role of police officers in mental health interventions, emphasizing their crucial function in crisis situations. The essay begins by highlighting the legal and ethical responsibilities of law enforcement in protecting vulnerable individuals and preventing harm. It explores the ways in which police officers can intervene effectively, including the use of authority to de-escalate crises and the importance of collaboration with healthcare professionals. The paper also discusses the need for specialized training to equip officers with the skills necessary to handle mental health crises sensitively and appropriately. The essay concludes that effective mental health intervention requires a collaborative approach between police and healthcare professionals, ensuring the safety and well-being of individuals experiencing mental health crises.

Running head: POLICING AND MENTAL HEALTH INTERVENTION
Policing and Mental Health Intervention
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Part 1 – Annotated Bibliography
Heyman, I. and McGeough, E., 2018. Cross‐disciplinary partnerships between police and
health services for mental health care. Journal of psychiatric and mental health
nursing, 25(5-6), pp.283-284
Heyman and McGeough (2018) have undertaken a study on the partnerships that exist
between police forces and medical enterprises in order to better the lives of people who suffer
from mental health issues. The research reflects the increasingly high interaction between people
who are mentally unsound and police officers with many case studies pertaining to countries
such as Canada, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Australia being brought up for study
and discussion. It is the argument of Heyman and McGeough (2018) that when it comes to
understanding the importance and necessity of police partnerships with healthcare enterprises for
improving the lives of people who have mental health problems and issues, special attention
needs to be paid to the role of nurses. It is the belief of the researchers that nurses can and ought
to play a role that is more active in forging partnerships or collaborations between medical
establishments and law enforcement agencies for the provision of innovative health care for
mental health patients.
Wood, J.D. and Watson, A.C., 2017. Improving police interventions during mental health-
related encounters: past, present and future. Policing and society, 27(3), pp.289-299

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Wood and Watson (2017), have talked about the many different ways by which police
interventions during mental health counters can be significantly improved. The research reviews
the first wave of the reform efforts that were undertaken in order to for reshaping police practices
and sensibilities when handling encounters related to mental health. It is the argument of Wood
and Watson (2017) that such efforts have had an important role to play in advancing guardian
mindsets via improved attitudes and knowledge about mental health needs and mental health
vulnerabilities. A number of opportunities have been suggested by the researchers for
implementation that can help in improving and advancing this guardianship agenda even further.
Three of the main opportunities that have been highlighted by the researchers in this respect are
building of evidence base via integrated data sets, enhancing procedural justice experience in the
course of encounters that are related to mental health and balancing place based focus with case
based focus.
Thomas, S. and Watson, A., 2017. A focus for mental health training for police. Journal of
criminological research, policy and practice, 3(2), pp.93-104
Thomas and Watson (2017) have proposed a better focus in efforts in mental health
training that equip police officers with the resources and the skills that they need in order to
provide better assistance during mental health interventions. By doing so, the researchers aim to
facilitate an improved outcome for people who experience a crisis in mental health. The
researchers have reflected on key evidence that relates to training programs in mental health that
have been delivered to the police and which focus on countries such as Canada, the United States
of America and Australia. The findings of the research reveal a number of similarities when it
comes to the core content of all of the mental health training programs that are provided
internationally with police officers for the most part demonstrating a very strong preference for

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what may be termed as hands on and experimental training instead of being exposed to bookish
knowledge and expertise.
Asquith, N.L. and Bartkowiak-Théron, I., 2017. Police as public health interventionists.
In Policing Encounters with Vulnerability (pp. 145-171). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Asquith and Bartkowiak Theron (2017) have engaged in a detailed study of the role that
the police can play in the area of public health intervention. This is an objective that has been
examined in the context of police encounters with vulnerable populations. The authors argue that
the concept of vulnerability needs to form a key component of activities or operations that are
undertaken by police officers in order for them to perform their roles better during public health
intervention in general and mental health intervention in particular. It is the belief of the
researchers that a thorough understanding of vulnerability that is brought on by poor health and
mental health issues will put police officers in a better position to offer assistance when carrying
out some form of crisis intervention or the other, providing improved protection to the vulnerable
people in the process by having an understanding of where the latter is coming from.
Wood, J.D., Watson, A.C. and Fulambarker, A.J., 2017. The “gray zone” of police work
during mental health encounters: Findings from an observational study in Chicago. Police
quarterly, 20(1), pp.81-105
Wood et al. (2017) have examined the gray zone that lies between the operations that are
performed by the police in the course of mental health encounters, with special reference to the
American city of Chicago. There are three core features associated with the work done by the
police that have been observed by the researchers in the course of their investigation. These are
the negotiation of peace with call subjects and complainants, use of local knowledge for guiding

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the process of decision making and the acceptance of temporary solutions for chronic
vulnerability. It is the argument of the researchers that field based studies need to be
considerably advanced by engaging in systematic social observation of what may be termed as
gray zone decision making that is carried out across and within distinct geographic as well as
place based contexts.
Bartkowiak-Théron, I. and Asquith, N.L., 2017. Conceptual divides and practice synergies
in law enforcement and public health: some lessons from policing vulnerability in
Australia. Policing and society, 27(3), pp.276-288.
Bartkowiak-Theron and Asquith (2017) have undertaken research to identify the
conceptual dissonance which frames debates concerning public health and law enforcement. The
practical energies which have always existed in both these fields and which continue to exist,
have been well documented in this research. A divide between public health and law
enforcement, it has been suggested on the part of the researchers, is something that is quite futile
and it is argued by the researchers that a shared notion of vulnerability in health, law and
policing can do a lot to foster better and more constructive collaborative practices, shared
understandings and policies. In the view of the researchers, the two domains of public health and
law enforcement really need to come together to arrive at an understanding of how public health
interventions can be best carried out, in a manner that addresses the vulnerability of patients and
which is aimed at improving their condition rather than aggravating the dire situation that they
are already in.

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Boyd, J. and Kerr, T., 2016. Policing ‘Vancouver’s mental health crisis’: a critical
discourse analysis. Critical public health, 26(4), pp.418-433
Boyd and Kerr (2016), have studied mental health crisis in the context of Vancouver and
the study has been carried out through a critical lens. Reports generated on mental health crisis
by as many as four police departments in Vancouver in Canada have been studied by the
researchers in the years between 2008 and 2013. Apart from outlining details of the crisis
situations that mental health patients find themselves in, the reports also provide a number of
recommendations on the suitable actions that are to be taken by the police in such instances. It is
argued by Boyd and Kerr (2016), that an effort needs to be made by public health professionals
and policy makers in Canada as well as outside of Canada to collaborate with police and to read
police reports on mental health intervention more often, to gain a better understanding or more
complete understanding of the vulnerabilities that mental health patients find themselves, in
order to provide better care and assistance in this respect.

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Part 2 – Essay
Mental health interventions are undertaken when patients suffering from mental health
issues find themselves in a crisis situation, whereby their own mental faculties are completely
stripped of logic and reason, and when they are about to do themselves some serious harm.
Mental health interventions often have to be carried out for people who suffer from severe
depression and other forms of mental illness such as bi-polar disorder, anxiety and eating
disorders and borderline personality disorder, with the latter being the most dangerous of all the
four disorders that have been mentioned (Baker and Pillinger 2019). It is a fact well known that
mental health interventions on the part of healthcare professionals are those that need to be
executed with a great deal of sensitivity and understanding with every effort being made on the
part of those undertaking the intervention, to make victims of mental health issues realize that the
intervention that is being carried out is aimed at improving their situation rather than worsening
it (Baker and Pillinger 2019). However, it is also important to remember in this respect that
mental health interventions are not carried out by health experts and health care professionals
alone and that law enforcement authorities such as police officers also have a crucial role to play
in mental health intervention (Asquith, N.L. and Bartkowiak-Théron, I., 2017). Police officers
are legally positioned to intervene when a patient is suffering from a mental health crisis and is
about to hurt himself or herself in the most grievous way possible, primarily because it is the
duty and obligation of law enforcement authorities to look into public wellbeing in situations
when the public find themselves vulnerable and are unable to protect themselves adequately
enough. Police officers are seen to play an active role in preventing people from committing
suicide and in rescuing people from the act of suicide. There are many patients of depression
who would have lost their lives had it not been for the intervention carried out in the ninth hour

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by police officers and law enforcement professionals. The role of police in mental health
intervention is therefore a very important one and it is a subject that demands considerable
analysis and investigation. The better equipped the police are to handle mental health crisis and
carry out mental health interventions, the better this will be for society, as a lot of vulnerable
people will receive the care, attention and protection that they deserve. This essay undertakes a
detailed evaluation of the role of police officers in mental health interventions. The essay
outlines the many ways by which a police officer can intervene during a crisis of mental health
and also provides recommendations for enhancing the role of police officers in this respect. The
paper concludes that collaboration between police officers and healthcare professionals is vital if
police officers are to better perform their roles as mental health interventionists in today’s day
and age.
One of the key ways by which police officers can bring about an improvement in the life
of a patient of mental health issues and carry out intervention in a crisis situation is through the
display of authority. While healthcare service professionals are those who are for the most part
entrusted with the task of coming to the aid of people who suffer from mental issues and
problems, it is police officers who have the capability of keeping people from doing themselves
harm by letting them know that they are going to get into trouble with the law and order
authorities if they do so (Bartkowiak-Théron, I. and Asquith, N.L., 2017). An innate reverence
for law enforcement agencies and authorities exists in each and every individual in every part of
the world and this is something that more often than not, comes into play when police officers
intervene in a mental health crisis. Usually patients who suffer from anxiety and depression and
who are about to do themselves a lot of harm such as taking their own lives, which victims of
borderline personality disorder are often known to do, get intimidated by the sight of a police

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officer commanding them not to hurt themselves any further. Their depressive state of mind is
one that is momentarily overcome by fear. They are filled with a sense of worry and anxiety and
do not want to cross law and order authorities lest they get into trouble for doing so. It is this
display of authority that has a crucial role to play in getting a police offer to perform the part of a
mental health interventionist quite successfully (Boyd and Kerr 2016). A counselor or a health
care professional when faced with the same situation would have taken a lot more time to get
across to the patient while the police officer is able to do so by just coming and standing in front
of the person who is about to cause himself a lot of harm (Baker and Pillinger 2019).
Another reason why police officers are known to be quite successful in the area of mental
health intervention is the fact that they are highly efficient in the performance of their operations
and do not waste any time at all in getting the job done. Police officers have to be on their toes at
all times, since their duties primarily involve tracking down or chasing criminals or people who
violate the law (Holman et al. 2018). Police officers are very quick on the uptake and when a
person dials emergency numbers and requests the assistance of a police officer in a mental health
crisis situation, then it does not take the police officer more than a few minutes to get to the
desired destination on time and carry out the intervention in the manner that is required. Police
officers make use of the fastest bikes and cars in order to do their jobs and they can arrive at a
situation of crime far more quickly and readily than a health care service provider or a counselor.
Hence a patient of bipolar disorder who is about to commit suicide or hurt himself or herself in
the most grievous way possible will be kept from doing so simply because police officers will
arrive on the scene in no time at all and keep them from doing this, provided the assistance of a
police officer is requested in the first place (James et al. 2018). Efficiency has a key role to play
in mental health intervention. Health care service providers, counselors and law enforcement

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agencies have to be fast enough to get to the situation where the crisis is about to occur if they
are to help the patient who is suffering from mental health issues and problems. More often than
not, it is found that a patient of mental health problems is able to commit suicide or harm himself
badly enough to die within a few days, because people who could have provided him with care
and assistance were not able to reach the venue on time. Hence the efficiency that is associated
with the operations of a police officer make them very successful in the area of mental health
intervention (Boyd and Kerr 2016).
A third reason why police officers are so successful in carrying out mental health
interventions is the fact that they are on high alert all of the time. Police officers have to be on
high alert for the most part as the nature of their job demands that they be so. Police officers
cannot afford to relax or take it easy because if they do so, they will fall behind on their duties.
Police officers need to be cautious at all times, since it is their job to provide protection and
assistance as and when this is required, be it at any given hour of the day (Kane et al. 2018).
Police officers also have the responsibility of pursuing criminals which is why they need to be
alert about the possible moves that can be made by criminal agents to escape the clutches of the
police. This sense of being alert and cautious helps a lot in the area of mental health intervention.
A person who is suffering from mental health problems or issues is a person who can injure or
hurt himself at any given point of time, without any prior warning. A depressive person can have
a smile on his face in the morning but can take his life in the evening because his state of mind
compelled him to do so (Kane et al. 2018). Hence a sense of urgency is always seen to prevail
when it comes to providing protection and assistance to patients of poor mental health. Given the
fact that police officers are on high alert all of the time and are cautious and ready to take action
at any given instance, they are able to make an immediate move when informed that a mental

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health crisis is about to take place, getting to the venue instantly and bringing the situation under
control (Knaak et al. 2019). All it takes is for an individual to dial the number of a police station
and let the person at the other end of the line know that a crisis situation is about to take place
and the police officer is going to get to the spot in an instant, without wasting any time, thus
saving the life or the trauma of both the person who is mentally ill and also the people who were
about to witness what was to happen (Lefevre et al. 2019). The sense of high alertness,
cautiousness and the sense of duty that is seen to prevail in a police office is something that goes
a long way in carrying out a mental health crisis intervention in the most successful manner.
Families that have members who are mentally ill and who are unable to provide such members of
the family with the constant attention and surveillance that they require, rely quite heavily on the
efficiency and efficacy of police officers should a crisis situation present itself at some point or
the other (Boyd and Kerr 2016).
Finally, it is important to remember that police officers are successful in the domain of
mental health interventions largely because of the fact that they carry an aura of protection and
assistance wherever they go. People feel safe and secure when they see a police officer in sight
and the same sense of security and safety comes into play when a mentally depressed person who
is on the verge of committing some serious harm, witnesses a police officer. Such a person is
then instantly filled with a sense of safety and is encouraged in the bargain not to hurt himself
any further (Race and Pillinger 2019).
While the efficacy and the efficiency demonstrated by police officers in the domain of
mental health intervention cannot be denied, it is important to arrive at an understanding of how
police officers and health care service providers can cooperate and collaborate with one another
in order to provide the best care and assistance for patients who suffer from severe depression

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and who often find themselves in crisis situations that require immediate intervention. It needs to
be remembered in this respect, that police officers have traditionally been quite reluctant to enter
into any kind of dialogue with healthcare professionals with regard to the rendition of their duties
(Parker et al. 2018). Police officers are usually autonomous in their mode of functioning and
prefer handling their duties and operations independently, even in mental health crisis situations,
without requiring any assistance from healthcare professionals in this respect. However, it is
imperative for an understanding to be arrived at between police officers and health care
professionals on ways and means by which mental health interventions can be carried out with a
greater degree of sensitivity, keeping the vulnerability of mental health patients in mind at all
times (Puntis et al. 2018). Such collaboration and cooperation can go a long way not only in
providing immediate assistance and care to victims of depression and mental health problems but
also in preventing unfortunate crisis situations from arising in the near future. In order to
understand better as to how cooperation and collaboration can be achieved between police
officers and healthcare service professionals for carrying out better mental health interventions,
the following points must be taken into consideration (Puntis et al. 2018).
Police officers need to be subjected to intensive and rigorous training in mental health
issues. In order to better understand what mental health issues are all about and in order to
provide better degrees of care and assistance to people who suffer from mental disorders, police
officers need to take up regular training on the subject of mental health (Roggenkamp et al.
2018). Such training can be provided to them only by renowned and experienced healthcare
professionals who have been working in the domain of mental health care and assistance for
quite some time now and who have the knowledge and the skills that are needed to provide
police officers with guidance and information in this respect. By signing up for mental health