How Do You Deal With Mentally Ill People?

[Rainman]

Mentally ill people can be dangerous. And if police officers don't know it, chances are that person will get killed.

So, supposing an incident has been reported and you don't know that the suspect is mentally ill, do you proceed straight to using force the moment you realize that the suspect won't be "compliant"?

 

[Josie]

Many of them get hurt or killed because the police are uneducated. This needs to change. Force will only make matters worse for most of them, there are better ways than treating them like animals.

 

[DancingLady]

That does happen all too often because of poor training I think. There are some really good methods for neutralizing aggressions without using aggression against the person. Police really need to be trained in these techniques. It could save lives and prevent injury to both mentally ill people and those who are just being aggressive because of anger or fear.

 

[Gabe]

Mentally ill people do need to be monitored and it can be hard to determine whether someone is or not. They can be a danger to themselves as well as the public, so the responsibility lies in the doctors making appropriate assessments and ensuring the best treatment.

Many mentally ill people don't have the right treatment and thus get caught out in the system and only when it gets to court do they get the treatment needed.

 

[missbishi]

That does happen all too often because of poor training I think. There are some really good methods for neutralizing aggressions without using aggression against the person. Police really need to be trained in these techniques. It could save lives and prevent injury to both mentally ill people and those who are just being aggressive because of anger or fear.

The police would do well to take some tips from psychiatric nurses who deal with patients like this every day. Training in the correct way of dealing with the mentally ill should be mandatory.

 

[JoanMcWench]

In a heated situation it's difficult for anyone (including police) to figure out if a person is drunk/drugged out of their minds, has a mental disability, or just intends on doing something stupid today. I'm sure if they had the information as to which one of these the person is dealing with they'd make an informed decision but it seems a lot of decisions made in these circumstances are split ones.