Should Police Officers Respond To Mental Health

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Police respond to mental health crises on a regular basis even though they are not properly trained to effectively resolve these issues. Along with this, police do not have the man power and/or resources to appropriately provide services to individuals over a long period of time, which most mental health issues require. A joint collaboration between police and mental health workers would ease the burden on police, more effectively handle the interactions with individuals experiencing these mental health crises, and would ultimately be safer and more beneficial for both police and these individuals in the long-run. Ultimately, professionals with mental health training will be more successful in working with persons with a mental health diagnosis, making not only the quality of service better but also the allotment of man-power and resources more appropriate.
Police officers interact with individuals that are involved in a mental health crisis every day. The outcomes of those interactions can vary depending on the officer’s personality and training as well as the actions and perceived threat from the person experiencing the crisis. The result of these interactions could lead to an officer injuring the individual in question or the officer receiving an injury. This could also lead to an individual being charged for a crime …show more content…

Most police officers are not trained to deal with these issues and the ones that are do not have the time nor resources to help connect the individual with the appropriate long-term care. The joining of police officers and mental health workers would provide a partnership that would allow these professionals to provide mental health care at both the onset of a problem as well as throughout a person’s life. This joint collaboration also has the potential to reduce injuries to both police officers as well as the individuals having a mental

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