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An Ounce of Prevention: Law Enforcement Training and Mental Health Crisis Intervention

Source: Disability Rights California

Resource Type: Documents and Publications

Focus Population: Family Members, Peers, People experiencing First Episode Psychosis (FEP), People experiencing Suicidal Urges, People who have experienced Trauma, People with Criminal Justice System Involvement, People with Serious Mental Illness (SMI)

Topics: Criminal or Juvenile Justice System, Crisis Response System, Mental Health Treatment, Mobile Crisis Unit

Without sufficient training in mental health crisis intervention, officers may not be adequately prepared to determine when behavior is related to a mental health disability or how to employ effective crisis intervention and de-escalation techniques. Additionally, officers may not be familiar with available mental health resources. This lack of training increases the likelihood of injury to both officers and individuals with mental health disabilities. Recent studies have concluded that nearly half of all police shootings involved a victim with a mental health disability.