MENTAL HEALTH AND POLICE PSYCHOLOGY ROLES 1
Research Paper: Mental Health and Police Psychology Roles
Kelly A. Komaromy
Liberty University
CJUS 620: Fundamentals of Forensic Psychology
Dr. Erica Hutton
3 March 2024
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Abstract
Police forces were established in the 1800’s and quickly gained popularity throughout the
world due to the increasing demand from governments and citizens to stop violence and
corruption throughout their communities. The focus was to found a system governed by rules
and laws to keep the lawlessness and disorder to a minimum by enforcing punishment with
hopes reducing the likelihood of poor conduct. It was a success but change is inevitable as
civilization develops, whether it is for the good or the unfortunate. Today, the police forces are
dealing with an array of instances and situations that they simply aren’t properly trained for nor
is it in their roles and responsibilities. A main concern and a bluntly disturbing facet is the rise in
mental health and disorders, understanding the difference between a psychotic episode and drug
reaction, knowing the signs and symptoms of a mental disorder, and what is simply a non-law
biding citizen. Police officers are not medical professionals, nor are they trained to know the
difference, which is an issue for society, the individuals mental suffering, and the vulnerabilities
and protection of our police officers.
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Mental Health and Police Psychology Roles
The increase in mental illness and disorders have left our police forces in vulnerable
situations, untrained circumstances, and ultimately in harms way more than already anticipated.
Police officers are unfortunately put into situations where they have to choose between their lives
and someones else’s far too often. “Approximately 1,000 people in the United States were fatally
shot by police officers during 2018, and people with mental illness were involved in
approximately 25 percent of those fatalities” (Rodgers, McNeil, Binder, 2019). This is a very
somber and pained statistic because police officers aren’t professional mental health workers and
its not enclosed in their job duties, yet we continuously send police officers, especially the
smaller departments, being called to situations where the individual is mentally ill and knowing
the difference between a psychotic episode and criminal behavior can sometimes seem identical
to the untrained eye.
Effectiveness of Police Crisis Intervention Training Programs
Many of the police forces were and are faced with demanding and troublesome criticism
and concerns amongst their communities in regards to the mental health issues and police
responses. Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT) were established because of these increasing
concerns and have been widely and rapidly implemented nationally and internally (Rodgers,
McNeil, Binder, 2019) with aspirations of more successful and promising outcomes. CITs are
trained and “a specialized police curriculum that aims to reduce the risk of serious injury or death
during an emergency interaction between persons with mental illness and police officers”
(Rodgers, McNeil, Binder, 2019). CITs and police officers both have very different terminology
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and systematic approaches in their individual responses to 911 calls and public safety calls. The
capabilities of all involved are unquestioned but are they effective in keeping all those safe in a
situation where there are person(s) with mental health illnesses.
Critique of Strengths and Weaknesses of the Article
Strengths
The Article “Effectiveness of Police Crisis Intervention Programs” had many strong
points to the effectiveness of CITs and the structured model they implement to expectedly have
to highest success rate possible. The CIT model has three components. The first component’s
focus is training for specified police officers people with mental illness (PMI) and their families
which consists of a roughly 40 hours course from mental health workers (Rodgers, McNeil,
Binder, 2019). In this set of instructions the enrolled personnel are educated on the capabilities of
a CIT, CIT roles, and basically just familiarizing them on what a CIT is. The second component
is extremely vital as it pertains to the dispatch operators and what specific codes to use and
questions to ask so that the CIT know they need to reply to that scene and are needed. Finally the
third component is “a centralized drop-off mental health facility with an automatic acceptance
policy to minimize police officer transfer time” (Rodgers, McNeil, Binder, 2019). The
description and understanding of this model in the article was very informative and crucial to
grasping the article at its core.
The second strength that stood out in this article was the effectiveness and rapid growth
amongst the police departments. “According to DeaneCet al.,12Cin the 1990s, only 45 percent of
174 responding police departments reported any specialized response to PMI, and of those, a
distinct minority (nC= 6, or 3%) reported using the CIT model. Since then, CIT uptake has been
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rapid. In a 2008 comprehensive qualitative analysis of CIT, ComptonCet al” (Rodgers, McNeil,
Binder, 2019). Since then the CIT increase has only increased and as of 2019 the University of
Memphis noted that the increase had reached relatively 2,700 programs just throughout the
United States (Rodgers, McNeil, Binder, 2019).
Weaknesses
Although I thoroughly enjoyed this article there were a few aspects that lacked statistics
and/or ownership. There was and still is minimal evidence from any peer-reviewed articles and
journals to support the effectiveness CITs with statistics, measures of psychiatric improvement,
arrests, and injuries to both officers and citizens (Rodgers, McNeil, Binder, 2019). The other
factor that stood out as inadequate and lacking support was “the fragmented and overlapping
U.S. law enforcement system presents challenges in terms of oversight and monitoring, and this
extends to gathering statistics” (Rodgers, McNeil, Binder, 2019). I understand that many of the
police departments and forces fall under state supervision but there is a hierarchy that falls with
any kind of government entity and it is federal as the foundation followed by state.
‘Defunding the police’: A consideration of the implications for the police role in mental
health work
This paper identifies the functions of police and their involvement in the mental health
work, noting that ‘defund the police’ started from reforms to mental health responses in relation
to criminal activity. “Police officers have increasingly become first responders in mental health
crises” (Cummins, 2022). There have been intense concerns from both the communities and the
police departments because of the rise in mental health disorders and many of the police officers
feel like they are “picking up the pieces” (Cummins, 2022) when responding to calls that deal
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with the combination of criminal activity, civil disputes, and PMI. The police officers know that
they do not have the proper training, knowledge and skills to effectively help and treat those with
mental disorders or illnesses.
Critique of Strengths and Weaknesses of the Article
Strengths
This article was very articulate and eloquently flowed with statistics and important view
points. Cummins states that police officers deal with mental illnesses in all aspects of their job
and I struggled to come up with an aspect that didn’t. He is absolutely correct. “They will be
colleagues, fellow professionals, victims of crime and so on” (Cummins, 2022). So there must be
some kind of funding to train police officers or establish a CIT to counter the negative or
damaging reactions and forces when dealing with PMI. CITs were first developed in 1988 in
Memphis, Tennessee after a man was shot dead who was suffering from a psychotic illness. My
bachelors degree has a focus on crisis counseling so I know all to well the importance of have
that crisis counselor or team there with the first responders to assist in the trauma, healing, and
even escorting the victims or PMIs to the facilities and treatment needed. CITs mentioned in this
article are to focus on those very same aspects and “aim to limit police involvement” (Cummins,
2022).
Weaknesses
The article mentions that police cells may be used as places of safety for someone that is
suspected of having a mental illness or psychotic episode but almost as a last resort or if the
individual is unmanageable. The problem with this statement is the definition or examples of an
“unmanageable” situation or psychotic episodes are not clearly identified, so it seems like its
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basically at the judgement of the police officer who may or may not be properly trained on PMI.
The second weakness I fund to be very controversial and almost absurd is the manner the police
are almost blamed for deinstustionalisation. “The increased police involvement in mental health
work is the result of deinstitutionalisation, the failure to develop robust community mental health
services and more recently welfare retrenchment policies” (Cummins, 2022). Community mental
health services has no direct reflection of police officers involvement int he community. I
personally think its the ladder and that due to governments and communities no funding and
giving the mental health services more facilities and resources it is hurting not only the police
departments, but the PMI involved.
Summary of Articles
The articles I chose were to focus on the police involvement with mental health situations
and the positive and negative aspects of both. It is common knowledge in today’s society that
there is a problem with homelessness, addiction, criminal activity, lack of structure and personal
discipline, along with so much more. It is an understatement saying the police presence and
involvement is anything less than a staple amongst our communities, holding a moral standard
and keeping our safety as their priority. The problem is they simply aren’t trained to deal with
PMI and that is why CITs are so vital to the safety and injury prevention to both the victims and
police officers. The Red Cross is a prime example and how any deployment they have to natural
disasters there are always crisis counselors involved, because it is crucial to victims recovery and
healthy progression to have mental health professionals available. Police officers are no
different. Both articles make this same point effectively and also identify some shortcomings
within the governments and funding where the police forces could be better assisted.
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Conclusion: Personal Reflection, Position, and Christian Worldview
I think its remarkable that police involvement in mental health has taken a bit of a
forefront in topics of discussion amongst people and news platforms. We are all God’s children
and deserve to be treated as such whether an individuals is the criminal suffering from a mental
disorder, the police officer, or just innocent bystanders. Matthew 22: 35-40 demonstrates the
perfectly “And one of them, a doctor of the law, asked him, tempting him:CMaster, which is the
greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy
whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first
commandment.CAnd the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these
two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets” (Catholic Bible, 2011). I am on
board with this concept wholeheartedly but another part of being a good Christian and follower
is taking responsibility for one’s actions not enabling poor behavior. This is where compassion
can be be a bit of a fine line, but that is when I would go to God and my priest for guidance.
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Cummins, I. (2022). ‘defunding the police’: A consideration of the implications for the police
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