Headline

A nonpolice response model was the first choice for crisis response among people with serious mental illness and their family members.

Context

People with mental illness frequently come into contact with police when experiencing a mental health crisis, contributing to people with serious mental illness being overrepresented in jails and prisons as well as among people killed by police. Communities across the U.S. are exploring newer models for mental health crisis response, including nonpolice crisis response teams with various staffing approaches, including clinicians, medical professionals, peers, etc. This qualitative study gleaned perspectives on police and nonpolice crisis response models from 50 interviews with people with serious mental illness and a history of arrest and 18 of their family members or friends.

Findings

The study authors presented an array of response model options for the interviewees to consider, including three police response models with varying levels of police training in mental health or different types of partnership with mental health professionals (either on-scene of via telephone). Overall, the people with serious mental illness and their family members or friends both preferred a nonpolice response model (48% and 61% respectively). The advantages they cited in the nonpolice response model included the physical presence of professionals with mental health training, who show displays of empathy and calm, and absence of police, who many associate with negative past experience. Notably, 24% of people with serious mental illness and 39% of their family members or friends cited safety concerns as the major disadvantage of the nonpolice model for encounters that may involve violence, weapons, or harm to self. Notably, nearly a quarter of people with serious mental illness (22%) chose the nonpolice response as their least preferred response model.

Takeaways

This study helps policymakers understand what support is needed for people in a mental health crisis, as the public has been increasingly calling for changes in how police respond to these encounters. The authors note several considerations for policymakers including finding ways to resolve more mental health crises through the new, nationwide 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, grow the peer workforce, implement more mental health-led crisis response models, and research safety concerns in the context of mental health crises.