Police officer assessments of mental illness, substance use and co-occurring mental illness and substance use: It\u27s common sense

Police officers typically use common sense honed by experience to interpret ambiguous situations, such as those involving someone who may have a mental illness or may be under the influence of substances. Furthermore, for individuals with mental illnesses and co-occurring substance use disorders, police officers can serve as gatekeepers to either the criminal justice or mental health systems. Police officers\u27 decision to refer someone to mental health treatment, rather than arrest them, is predicated on their ability to recognize signs of a mental illness. This study examined police officers\u27 commonsense knowledge about mental illnesses, substance use, and co-occurring disorders in the context of mental disturbance calls, in order to gain a better understanding of police officers\u27 decision-making process. Because common sense knowledge varies with context, the study used a case study methodology to elicit the common knowledge shared by police officers within two Philadelphia police districts. Using Bourdieu\u27s lens of habitus and doxa, commonsense knowledge, the study explored how neighborhood characteristics and policy contexts impact officers\u27 interpretation of behavior during mental disturbance calls. Data included secondary data analysis of structured interviews with police officers (N = 15), document analysis, and observation of police/community meetings from each district. The interviews were coded using grounded theory coding techniques and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings from this study indicated that officers used three sources of information to assess a mental disturbance situation: information from dispatch, information from people on the scene, and behavioral observations of subjects of the call. The availability of this information and the officers\u27 judgments about the usefulness of each type of information differed by police district. Officers\u27 ability to differentiate between signs of mental illness and substance use did not impact whether or not they referred an individual for treatment, but did impact the willingness to use force in a situation. Additionally, analysis of police officer doxa suggested that a portion of mental disturbance calls consist of people with mental illness calling police to report bizarre crimes. Future research is needed to investigate how to best serve this population, who may be utilizing a disproportionate amount of policing resources