Negotiating the Fate of People with Mental Illness: The Police and the Hospital Emergency Room

Abstract

Police contacts with people with mental illness have been studied extensively. However, relatively little is known about police activity in the emergency room as such persons are transferred from the street to the hospital. In order to explore this issue, two studies were conducted. In 1973, a state hospital's psychiatric admissions were examined. A follow-up study was conducted in 2005. In 1973, people with mental illness were taken directly to the state hospital. In 2005, most people with mental illness were screened in general hospital emergency rooms. Because of mental health policies, admissions to state hospitals fell by almost two thirds. However, police involvement in psychiatric admissions remained the same: 25% to 30% of police contacts in 1973 and 2005 resulted in emergency room admissions. Therefore, despite changes in mental health policies, the police play a significant, and undiminished, role in psychiatric admissions.