Effectiveness of current policing‐related mental health interventions: A systematic review

Abstract

Overall, rather than indicating that one approach is more effective than another, the review points to the need for a multi-faceted approach within a structured and integrated model, such as the CIT model. This is generally not the current pattern of interventions, and policy makers, service commissioners and providers may wish to review future options. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Police interactions and interventions with suspects flagged as experiencing mental health problems

“…We identified individuals who had been triaged through the CCR embedded MH professionals. Use of these staff has grown since the mid‐2000s, but a systematic review (Kane et al, ) indicated that their use has yet to be evaluated through high quality studies that would provide a context and comparison for our findings. It would be reasonable to assume that CCR embedded staff involvement would influence the initial response made by the police.…”

“…The model provides for a core team, which is almost always staffed by psychiatric nurses, and an extended team with staff from various agencies that play key roles in diversion, including housing and welfare specialists (Kane, Evans, & Shokraneh, 2018).…”

“…Embedded staff in Police Contact and Control Rooms (CCRs) are the main access point for the public. In a number of CCRs, MH specialists (usually psychiatric nurses) have been embedded in the CCR teams, advising call handlers and dealing with individual callers (Kane et al, ). The potentially critical nature of this contact point appears to have driven this significant investment by the police.…”

The crime, mental health, and economic impacts of prearrest diversion of people with mental health problems: A systematic review

“…Appropriateness of diversion is likely to be based on the seriousness of the offence, the safety of the individual and the public (DeMatteo, LaDuke, Locklair, & Heilbrun, 2013). The appeal of prearrest diversion lies in its promise for reducing criminal recidivism in the longer term, enhancing public safety, saving money, and improving access to the appropriate services for people with mental health problems (Heilbrun et al, 2012;Kane, Evans, & Shokraneh, 2018). There has, however, been no systematic evaluation of research to date which has assessed such outcomes, so prearrest diversion is still not deemed to be evidence-based (Watson, Compton, & Draine, 2017).…”

Mental health in the criminal justice system: A pathways approach to service and research design

“…The Health Screening of People in Police Custody (HELP‐PC) project, for example, has produced an evidence‐based screen that can be simply applied; however, in most areas, appropriate screening is simply not being done (McKinnon & Grubin, ). Meanwhile, attempts to help police by flagging risk may be disadvantaging the people with mental disorder who come into contact with them (Kane, Evans, & Shokraneh, ).…”