Police Interactions with the Mentally Ill: The Role of Procedural Justice

Abstract

Police encounters with mentally ill individuals that involve the use of force by police are relatively infrequent, but sometimes quite volatile. Deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill, poorly funded and fragmented community treatment alternatives, plus increasingly restrictive civil commitment criteria have led to increased contacts with the police. Police need to exercise restraint when using force against individuals suffering from a mental disorder. There is a clear need for specialized crisis intervention police training for dealing with the mentally ill. Procedural justice theory offers a promising approach to improving police-citizen interactions. According to this framework, the fairness with which an individual is treated during an encounter by an authority figure, such as the police, can affect the perceived legitimacy of these interactions and any disposition that flows from them. This is particularly important regarding interactions between the police and those suffering from a mental disorder.