Policing mental illness: Police use of section 136 – Perspectives from police and mental-health nurses

Abstract

Ideological shifts in mental health-care policy such as deinstitutionalisation have meant police have had to make decisions about the care of persons with a mental-health crisis. This study examines how police in five English counties respond to crisis calls when employing the powers afforded in section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983, and the effectiveness of the national Street Triage pilot scheme. Qualitative interviews with 30 police officers and mental-health nurses (MHN) were collected as data sources. The analysis shows that police have previously struggled with the significant number of crisis calls, whilst also finding mental-health services inadequately sourced, leading to some detentions in police cells as alternatives to health-based places of safety. However, the scheme has made positive changes in alleviating these issues when MHN are co-located with police, highlighting the need to strengthen their partnership by facilitating the sharing of information, responsibilities and decision making in order to ensure police cells continue to be avoided as alternative places of safety.

‘An accident waiting to happen’ ‐ experiences of police officers, paramedics, and mental health clinicians involved in 911‐mental health crises: a cross‐sectional survey

“…Most police and ambulance staff did not enjoy responding to mental health‐related callouts, viewing them as time‐consuming, challenging and keeping them from other duties. Aspects of police officers' discontent in the literature include being “used as a taxi service” (Wood et al, 2021, p. 36) and being “no mental health expert” (Wondemaghen, 2021, p. 269). A study evaluating police training in NZ found a strong sense of disappointment and frustration responding to mental health‐related callouts as police officers lacked the support from other services (Davey et al, 2021).…”

A retrospective cohort study describing characteristics of those repeatedly detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act over a 5-year period and the association with past abuse

“…1 Further training for police on how to approach those with a trauma or abuse history and presenting in crisis is recognised as worthwhile, although it should not be a substitute for effective shared-working partnerships with mental health services. 27 In recent years, shared working has been developed through street triage, an intervention which combines mental health expertise with police encounters, aiming to reduce the likelihood of detention by police with the resulting patient distress. Most commonly, this has involved a co-response model, by which mental health professionals assist police in person during incidents.…”