5.6 Improving Police Encounters
Sometimes, police encounters with people with mental disorders or who are in crisis need to happen. There are limits on crisis response systems, and when those limits are reached, the responsibility of dealing with crises will fall to law enforcement. Additionally, some people who experience mental disorders are contacted by police due to conduct or presentation of risks that legitimately require their arrest. In these cases, the focus needs to be on making police encounters as safe and as productive as possible.
Many resources address specific policing techniques and scenarios. This textbook is not one of them. However, this section offers some general information to increase awareness of the risks associated with police encounters involving mental disorders and some ideas to reduce those risks. Two important approaches that may improve police interactions with people with mental disorders are, first, use of targeted training programs, and, second, use of specialized police teams or units to take those calls that are known to involve mental disorders. Officers who are well-prepared and experienced tend to be more willing, even eager, to resolve encounters constructively. Fortunately, there are plenty of law enforcement officers (including some of those highlighted in this section) who offer positive examples and insight for criminal justice students.
Use of Force in Crisis Encounters
The information in the introduction to this chapter and in the upcoming Spotlight about Portland’s James Chasse makes clear the most dire risks associated with excessive use of force against people with mental disorders. Police also use force in many situations that draw less attention but remain quite harmful. NAMI takes the position that police should seek to avoid the use of force entirely against people experiencing problems due to mental disorders, arguing that the use of any force is especially harmful to this vulnerable group. NAMI urges law enforcement leaders and policymakers to “prioritize policies that prevent use of force when law enforcement is responding to a person in a mental health crisis to reduce trauma and tragedy” (NAMI, 2024).
Use of force by police officers, in any case, must occur only when necessary; this is a demand of our Constitution and laws. Should police, as NAMI asserts, go a step further and seek to avoid all use of force against those experiencing mental disorders? Policy enacted by the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) seems to endorse this position, urging restraint in the use of force with this particular group. PPB’s general use of force policy states:
The Bureau recognizes that members may need to use force in the performance of their duties. In these circumstances, the community expects and the Bureau requires that members use only the objectively reasonable force necessary based on the totality of the circumstances (City of Portland, 2023).
However, PPB policy goes on to specifically recognize mental disorders as a moderating consideration weighing against the use of force:
Members shall attempt to avoid or minimize the use of force against individuals in actual or perceived mental health crisis or those with mental illness and direct such individuals to the appropriate services, where possible (City of Portland, 2023).
Unfortunately, despite positions and policies to the contrary, people with mental disorders nationwide are not spared the use of force more often than others—rather, they are at higher risk of experiencing police use of force than other groups. People with serious mental illnesses (such as schizophrenia) are more than ten times as likely as others to experience the use of force in law enforcement interactions as people without those diagnoses (NAMI, 2024). NAMI attributes this disparity to a number of underlying problems, including officer misinterpretation of unusual behavior and unexpected responses to commands that may be demonstrated by people with mental disorders. Accordingly, it is vital that police engage in training that teaches them about mental disorders and emphasizes de-escalation—the use of skills to slow events and decrease the risk of physical confrontation. Also critical is the development of police department culture that seeks to minimize the use of force, as communicated by its leaders and its policies, and demonstrated by officers in performing their duties (NAMI, 2024).
Crisis Intervention Team Training
For police to respond appropriately to people with mental disorders, they require appropriate training. The most well-known of these training approaches, Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training, is also known as the “Memphis Model” after the city where it was created. CIT training is intended to help criminal justice professionals safely and effectively respond to individuals in crisis by emphasizing de-escalation techniques and referrals to mental health and social services.
Development of the CIT Approach
Citizens in Memphis raised a public outcry after Memphis police officers killed a young Black man, Joseph DeWayne Robinson, in 1987. Details are scarce regarding Robinson’s story, but it was clear after his death that his only weapon was a knife, that he was suicidal, and likely his only intent was to hurt himself. Robinson was shot by police, and the outraged city demanded action. This action came in the form of a new type of training known as Crisis Intervention Team, or CIT, training (figure 5.19) (University of Memphis, n.d.).
The CIT Center in Memphis, Tennessee, now holds itself out as a resource for police departments across the country seeking to avoid outcomes like that in the Joseph DeWayne Robinson case and so many others since then. The CIT Center touts the CIT training model as a best practice recognized by organizations such as NAMI, the Department of Justice, and SAMHSA (University of Memphis, n.d.). In addition to its benefits for community members interacting with police, CIT training has been credited with reducing officer injuries in mental health crisis calls by 80% (NAMI, n.d.).
Crisis Training Objectives
CIT training teaches law enforcement officers how to work as a team to meet the immediate needs of people with mental disorders and how to divert these individuals away from incarceration (at the Intercept 1 point discussed in Chapter 4). The objectives of CIT training are admirable and in line with the goals addressed throughout this text:
- To decrease the risk of harm to individuals in crisis;
- To promote decriminalizing individuals with a mental illness;
- To lessen the stigma associated with mental illness; and
- To reduce injuries to law enforcement officers.
Specific elements of CIT training may vary by location, but 40-hour programs typically include at least these elements: active listening, specific mental health diagnoses and suicidality (including officer suicide), legal information, and de-escalation techniques (University of Memphis, n.d.; Why Crisis Intervention, 2019).
Originally envisioned and used as special training for certain officers, CIT is gradually becoming more of a standard practice. Some believe it should be a mandatory element of all police training. Many police departments (including the Portland Police Bureau) have shifted towards requiring basic CIT training, along with regular updates, for all of its officers. As a state, Montana includes CIT training as part of its law enforcement academy and makes the training available throughout an officer’s career. Montana has found that incorporating CIT has helped to shift the culture in the state surrounding law enforcement’s response to mental illness. The training in Montana has evolved over time to incorporate peer-to-peer training, in which officers train other officers on how to best address mental health issues (Ezekiel, et al. 2021 as cited in SAMHSA, 2023c).
Training should always be updated as our knowledge evolves. A variation on CIT training, called CRIT (Crisis Response and Intervention Training) has recently been piloted in a few cities around the country, including Corvallis, Oregon. CRIT is described as an “extension” of CIT training, with some added emphases—including a much-needed focus on police interactions with people who experience developmental disorders and intellectual disabilities (Davis, 2023). It remains to be seen whether CRIT is a variation that will exist alongside CIT or whether its innovations represent a shift that will be made on a larger scale in the future. If you are interested in learning more about the CRIT pilot program, take a look at the Corvallis Police website for more information.
Focus on De-Escalation
De-escalation relates closely to avoiding the use of force and, therefore, it is a way to keep people safe. The Department of Justice defines de-escalation as:
[T]he range of verbal and nonverbal skills used to slow down the sequence of events, enhance situational awareness, conduct proper threat assessments, and allow for better decision-making to reduce the likelihood that a situation will escalate into a physical confrontation or injury and to ensure the safest possible outcomes (U.S. Department of Justice, n.d.-a).
In other words, effective and useful de-escalation is a complex concept that includes communication and physical action, as well as other elements, such as awareness of implicit bias that can impact actions and decisions (U.S. Department of Justice, n.d.-a).
Effective de-escalation techniques may vary depending on the identities of the officer(s) using them, as well as those of the person being engaged by police. This is one of many opportunities to consider how policing and our communities might benefit from a more diverse police force (figure 5.20). For example, most de-escalation training is taught by and for men, who still make up the vast majority of law enforcement professionals. Women make up less than 15% of full-time law enforcement officers in the United States (Van Ness, 2021).
Commenters have observed that women may more naturally tend to de-escalate situations, perhaps stemming from the physical reality that most women cannot actually “muscle” their way out of confrontations and may be socialized throughout their lives to work as peacemakers. Female officers more readily rely on their voices, their reason, and their empathy to de-escalate situations. Some advocates suggest that a substantial increase in women on police forces might be critical to truly changing the culture of policing: female officers are statistically less likely to use excessive and deadly force than male officers, and so are male officers who work alongside female officers (Naili, 2015). However, adding more women does not solve all policing problems: even where police departments increase their female employees, racial disparities in arrests have not notably improved (Corley, 2022).
Direct training and practice of individual de-escalation techniques are basics of police training and a focus of CIT training. Watch the short (3 minute) video in figure 5.21 sharing the experience of officers engaged in CIT de-escalation training, noting the methods used to build empathy among the officers. Do you believe these are effective approaches?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ01xCL6B0Y
SPOTLIGHT: A Death in Portland
In September of 2006, Portland, Oregon, experienced a tragedy that involved a police encounter with a person with mental illness. Though not an isolated incident, it shook the city and continues to be part of conversations about these issues now, almost twenty years later.
James Chasse, a slender 42-year-old man, had a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Chasse lived in an apartment near downtown Portland, and he had at some point before his death stopped taking his psychiatric medications. His mental health had deteriorated (Slovic, 2014). On the day of his death, September 17, Chasse was violently arrested by several officers on the streets of Portland’s Pearl District. There was, as it turned out, no real reason for the arrest, and during it, a terrified Chasse was brutally injured—not by a gunshot but by the hands, bodies, and taser of police and a sheriff’s deputy. Later, medical examiners would reveal that among Chasse’s many injuries were 26 breaks on 16 of his ribs (Slovic, 2014). A photograph, taken by a man working in a nearby restaurant, shows officers and medical personnel standing around a bloody and hog-tied Chasse as he suffers (figure 5.22). In and out of consciousness, Chasse did not stop breathing until later, when he was taken to the jail instead of a hospital at the direction of officers on-scene. Chasse’s death occurred 106 minutes after the initial police contact (Slovic, 2014).
Portlanders were overwhelmingly horrified and outraged by this brutality in broad daylight on the then-clean streets of early 2000s Portland. Hundreds of people attended Chasse’s memorial (figure 5.22). Seeking answers, the City of Portland commissioned an investigation and eventually released a report of the details around Chasse’s death, including a number of recommendations for change. If you are interested, that report is available here: Report to the City of Portland Concerning the In-Custody Death of James Chasse [Website].
No officers were charged or, ultimately, disciplined for the events that caused Chasse’s death. However, some changes have occurred over time. In 2011, for example, the city opened a 16-bed Crisis Assessment and Treatment Center in Multnomah County. Additionally, in 2012, after a federal investigation into the Portland Police Bureau, the U.S. Department of Justice found that the bureau had a pattern of using excessive force against people with mental disorders (including Chasse), and better training and other measures were required by that settlement (Slovic, 2014). Those efforts are still a work in progress, but now every Portland Police officer receives CIT training to better prepare them to serve people with mental disorders in the community.
One of the officers involved in Chasse’s death left the sheriff’s office and joined PPB as part of its unit that specializes in mental health responses. “‘It’s definitely something that’s changed my life,’ [the officer stated in an interview regarding] Chasse’s death, ‘and changed the way we do police work here in the city’” (Slovic, 2014). There is little question, however, that Portland can do even more, both in terms of concrete change and building trust among community members. It is not unthinkable to many people that a similar set of events could happen today.
Filmmaker Brian Lindstrom made a documentary about the life and death of James Chasse, and it is fascinating and heartbreaking to watch and hear from so many people who were involved in Chasse’s life, as well as in his death. A 2-minute trailer for that film is linked in Figure 5.24; you may want to watch the full film online if you are interested. If you do watch the film, consider whether the attitudes, actions, and outcomes of any of the participants would be different if these events occurred in Portland today.
Specialty Units and Co-Responder Teams
In addition to individual officer training, police departments seek to improve their handling of behavioral health calls through the use of specialty units and teams. Designated units allow police bureaus to respond to these calls with officers who have enhanced training and are aware of the resources available to them. Officers in these specialty behavioral health units generally have not only additional training but also a desire to take on this particular role.
Some specialized police units pair trained officers with mental health practitioners who can bring their skills into police encounters, to the benefit of all (U.S. Department of Justice, n.d.-b). These collaborations are referred to as co-responder teams. The U.S. Department of Justice encourages the development of specialized mental health and co-responder programs in police bureaus, and it offers funding opportunities, as well as information support, for bureaus pursuing this option (U.S. Department of Justice n.d.-b). While models, practices, and outcomes vary from department to department, researchers have observed several advantages of this model: better crisis de-escalation, increased connection of individuals to services, reduced pressure on the criminal justice system (e.g., fewer arrests and less time spent by officers on calls), and reduced pressure on the health care system (e.g., fewer emergency department visits and psychiatric hospitalizations) (University of Cincinnati, n.d.).
Watch the short video clip in figure 5.25 to hear from a police chief discussing his experience with CIT training and co-responder teams in his department in Portland, Maine. The chief emphasizes the safety improvements that come along with these advancements and discusses the need to shift police culture in favor of these improvements.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAUF99P7U0s
Leadership in Portland, Maine, is not alone in appreciating the importance of police “culture” change. A New York Times report on the leadership of Portland, Oregon, in using CIT training (figure 5.26) highlighted the resulting changes in officer approaches as contributing to safety, but also noted that effective CIT-based approaches need “the full backing of a police department’s leadership, continual checks on . . . effectiveness, and collaboration with the mental health community” (Goode, 2016).
As noted, police specialty units, including co-responder units, employ different approaches with varying levels of success in different communities. Consider the following two videos of programs in Bellingham, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, where police use specialized training and resources to address challenging calls related to mental disorders.
Behavioral Health Officer
As an example of officers using behavioral health training and experience, watch the 10-minute video in figure 5.27 that was produced by the Bellingham, Washington, police department. The video depicts, and narrates from the law enforcement perspective, an encounter with a person in crisis. Body camera footage is shown to portray the real situation. Consider as you watch: what things went right here? What were the officers’ concerns? What did, or could have, gone wrong? Which elements of this response were required because this was a law enforcement event, and which were optional? And what, if anything, might you have done differently?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szbTcECOQ7c
Co-Response Team
In Oregon, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) also has a Behavioral Health Unit, which responds to assist people in the community in crisis or struggling with mental disorders, including substance use disorders. While all Portland police receive CIT training, certain Behavioral Health Unit officers have “enhanced” training on mental disorders and de-escalation tactics beyond that provided to other officers. These officers with enhanced training serve in a voluntary capacity on teams that can be dispatched to situations requiring these particular skills and techniques. PPB reports a very low incidence of use of force by these officers: force (of any level) is employed in only one in 500 calls where officers with enhanced CIT training respond (Behavioral Health Unit, n.d.).
A co-response team called the Behavioral Health Response Team is one tier of service employed by PPB’s Behavioral Health Unit (Behavioral Health Unit, n.d.). Watch the video in figure 5.28 to get an inside view of PPB’s co-responder team in action. Both members of the team share their perspectives on the work they do. As you watch this video, consider the benefits of having behavioral health providers and specially trained police officers working together as a team to meet the needs of community members. What are the positives and negatives of this arrangement? If you were the person in need, is this a team that you would want to respond?
Licenses and Attributions for Improving Police Encounters
Open Content, Original
“Improving Police Encounters” by Anne Nichol is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
“Specialty Units and Co-Responder Teams” by Kendra Harding and Anne Nichol is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Revised by Anne Nichol.
“SPOTLIGHT: A Death in Portland” by Monica McKirdy and Anne Nichol is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Revised by Anne Nichol.
Open Content, Shared Previously
“Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Training” is adapted from Snapshot of Behavioral Health Crisis Services and Related Technical Assistance Needs Across the U.S. by SAMHSA, which is in the Public Domain. Modifications by Anne Nichol, Licensed under CC BY 4.0, include revising, condensing, and expanding upon the content.
“CIT Training Objectives” is adapted from Snapshot of Behavioral Health Crisis Services and Related Technical Assistance Needs Across the U.S. by SAMHSA, which is in the Public Domain. Modifications by Anne Nichol, licensed under CC BY 4.0, include revising, condensing, and expanding upon the content.
Open Content, All Rights Reserved
Figure 5.19. Photo of officers in training by Eric Wheeler at Metro Transit on Flickr.
Figure 5.20. Photo of Denver police at a protest by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash.
Figure 5.21. Police officers take course teaching de-escalation techniques by NJ Spotlight News is licensed under the Standard YouTube License.
Figure 5.22. Photograph of James Chasse by Jamie Marquez, Portland Mercury, is included under fair use.
Figure 5.23. Photograph of James Chasse at his memorial by Compassionpdx is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Figure 5.24. James Chasse Documentary Trailer by Mental Health Association of Portland is licensed under the Mental Health Association of Portland terms of service.
Figure 5.25. Learning About Police-Mental Health Collaboration Programs is licensed under the Standard YouTube License.
Figure 5.26. Photo of Portland police by Wesley Mc Lachlan on Unsplash
Figure 5.27. Bellingham Police Perspective Project / 20E5: Responding to a Behavioral Health Crisisby Office of Justice Programs is licensed under the Standard YouTube License.
Figure 5.28. Behavioral Health Unit: Ride along with a Behavioral Health Response Team by Portland Police is licensed under the Standard YouTube License.
