This article considers the impact of police officers' education in relation to a single type of"critical incident," one in which suspects appeared to be mentally ill. Data are taken from interviews of officers with three different levels of education: high school only, some college or university, and a university degree. The research considers whether officers with different educational levels reported handling cases differently, after controlling for officers' gender, age, and experience, in addition to suspect- and incident-specific factors, including substance abuse and the psychiatric criteria for referral for mental health evaluation. The incident outcome is used as the dependent variable, with possible outcomes including arrest, psychiatric referral, or informal resolution to the incident. Findings indicate that education significantly influenced reported dispositions, with university-educated officers more likely to report the use of a psychiatric referral than officers with other educational backgrounds.
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