A descriptive study of LAPD's co-response model for individuals with mental illness

Abstract

Police strategies have transformed over the years. The prior approach of criminalizing mental illness by incarcerating those in mental health crisis in jails was exposed to be ineffective. The development of partnerships between police officers and mental health professionals was the next evolution in the law enforcement response to mental illness. This collaboration works in partnership to provide positive outcomes for those struggling with a mental health crisis. This quantitative study evaluated the effectiveness of the co-response model by completing a secondary data analysis of pre-existing 2014-2015 data extracted from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Mental Evaluation Unit database documenting law enforcement encounters with consumers of mental health services. Descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted on 15,454 records. Significant findings indicate that this new partnership has provided a positive impact in deterring the criminalization of persons with mental illness by directly connecting those persons to more appropriate treatment facilities to help them manage their symptoms and conditions.