Mental health–related calls for service are increasing across Canadian communities. However, the spatial dynamics of these calls for service and their potential relationship with concentrations of crime has not been fully investigated in the Canadian context. The current study examines mental health and other calls for service in a medium-sized (approximate population of 250,000), midwestern Canadian city in the year 2014. Using kernel density analysis and a spatial point pattern test, the study explores the concentration and spatial patterns of mental health calls for service across the city. Findings indicate that mental health calls for service differ from other crime-related calls for service, except for violent crime. Possible explanations for this pattern and considerations for policy and policing are discussed.
AllenM. (2018). Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2017. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada.
2.
AndresenM. A. (2009). Testing for similarity in area-based spatial patterns: A nonparametric Monte Carlo approach. Applied Geography, 29, 333-345.
3.
AndresenM. A. (2016). An area-based nonparametric Spatial Point Pattern Test: The test, its applications, and the future. Methodological Innovations, 9, Article 12.
4.
AndresenM. A.MallesonN. (2011). Testing the stability of crime patterns: Implications for theory and policy. Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, 48(1), 58-82.
5.
AndresenM. A.MallesonN. (2013). Spatial heterogeneity in crime analysis. In LeitnerM. (Ed.), Crime modeling and mapping using geospatial technologies (pp. 3-23). New York, NY: Springer.
6.
BoyceJ.RotenbergC.KaramM. (2015). Mental health and contact with police in Canada, 2012. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada.
7.
BragaA. A.WeisburdD. (2010). Policing problem places: Crime hot spots and effective prevention. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
8.
BrinkJ.LivingstonJ.DesmaraisS.GreavesC.MaxwellV.MichalakE.WeaverC. (2011). A study of how people with mental illness perceive and interact with the police. Calgary, Alberta: Mental Health Commission of Canada.
9.
BursikR. J.GrasmickH. G. (1993). Neighborhoods and crime: The dimensions of effective community control. New York, NY: Lexington Books.
10.
Canadian Mental Health Association. (2005). Criminalization of mental illness. Vancouver, British Columbia: Author.
11.
CaoL. (2014). Aboriginal people and confidence in the police. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 56, 499-526.
12.
ColemanT. G.CottonD. H. (2010). Reducing risk and improving outcomes of police interactions with people with mental illness. Journal of Police Crisis Negotiations, 10(1-2), 39-57.
13.
CottonD.ColemanT. G. (2010). Canadian police agencies and their interactions with persons with a mental illness: A systems approach. Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, 11(4), 301-314.
14.
Council of Canadian Academies. (2014). Policing Canada in the 21st century: New policing for new challenges. Ottawa, Ontario: Author.
15.
CurryA.LatkinC.Davey-RothwellM. (2008). Pathways to depression: The impact of neighborhood violent crime on innercity residents in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Social Science & Medicine, 67(1), 23-30.
16.
DesmaraisS. L.Van DornR. A.JohnsonK. L.GrimmK. J.DouglasK. S.SwartzM. S. (2014). Community violence perpetration and victimization among adults with mental illnesses. American Journal of Public Health, 104, 2342-2349.
17.
Diez-RouxA. V.MairC. (2010). Neighbourhoods and health. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1186, 125-145.
18.
DurbinJ.LinE.ZaslavskaN. (2010). Police-citizen encounters that involve mental health concerns: Results of an Ontario Police Services Survey. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 29(Suppl. 5), 53-71.
19.
DustmannC.FasaniF. (2016). The effect of local area crime on mental health. Economic Journal, 126, 978-1017.
FarrellG.TilleyN.TseloniA. (2015). Why the crime drop?Crime and Justice, 43, 421-490.
22.
FrankishC. J.HwangS. W.QuantzD. (2005). Homelessness and health in Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 96(Suppl. 2), S23-S29.
23.
GaetzS.O’GradyB.BuccieriK.KarabanowJ.MarsolaisA. (2013). Youth homelessness in Canada: Implications for policy and practice. Toronto, Ontario: Canadian Homelessness Research Network Press.
GreenT. (1997). Police as frontline mental health workers: The decision to arrest or refer to mental health agencies. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 20, 469-486.
26.
HeslopL.StittL.HochJ. S. (2011). Trends in police contact with persons with mental illness. London, Ontario, Canada: London Police Service.
27.
HidayV. A. (2006). Putting community risk in perspective: A look at correlations, causes and controls. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 29, 316-331.
28.
HodgkinsonT.AndresenM. A.FarrellG. (2016). The decline and locational shift of automotive theft: A local level analysis. Journal of Criminal Justice, 44(1), 49-57.
29.
IacobucciF. (2014). Police encounters with people in crisis: An independent review. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Toronto Police Service.
30.
JencksC. (1994). The homeless. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
31.
LeslieE.CerinE. (2008). Are perceptions of the local environment related to neighbourhood satisfaction and mental health in adults?Preventive Medicine, 47, 273-278.
32.
LivingstonJ. D. (2016). Criminal justice responses to people with mental illnesses. In RobertsJ.V.GrossmanM. G. (Eds.), Criminal justice in Canada: A reader (5th ed., pp. 199-210). Toronto, Ontario: Nelson Education.
33.
LivingstonJ. D.DesmaraisS. L.Verdun-JonesS.ParentR.MichalakE.BrinkJ. (2014). Perceptions and experiences of people with mental illness regarding their interactions with police. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 37, 334-340.
34.
MairC.Diez-RouxA. V.MorenoffJ. (2010). Neighborhood stressors and social support as predictors of depressive symptoms in the Chicago Community Adult Health Study. Health & Place, 16, 811-819.
35.
PrinsS. J. (2011). Does transinstitutionalization explain the overrepresentation of people with serious mental illnesses in the criminal justice system?Community Mental Health Journal, 47, 716-722.
SealyP. A. (2012). The impact of the process of deinstitutionalization of mental health services in Canada: An increase in accessing of health professionals for mental health concerns. Social Work in Public Health, 27, 229-237.
38.
ShawC. R.McKayH. D. (1942). Juvenile delinquency and urban areas: A study of rates of delinquency in relation to differential characteristics of local communities in American cities. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
39.
ShermanL. W.WeisburdD. L. (1995). General deterrent effects of police patrol in crime “hot spots”: A randomized, controlled trial. Justice Quarterly, 12, 625-648.
40.
SprottJ. B.DoobA. N. (2014). Confidence in the police: Variation across groups classified as visible minorities. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 56, 367-379.
41.
SteenbeekW.VandeviverC.AndresenM. A.MallesonN.WheelerA. (2018). sppt: Spatial Point Pattern Test. R package version (0.1.5, 0.1.6). Retrieved from https://github.com/wsteenbeek/sppt
42.
TeplinL. A.McClellandG. M.AbramK. M.WeinerD. A. (2005). Crime victimization in adults with severe mental illness: Comparison with the National Crime Victimization Survey. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 911-921.
43.
TestaM. (2015). Imprisonment of the mentally ill: A call for diversion to the community mental health system. Albany Government Law Review, 8, 405-438.
VaughanA. D.AndresenM. A. (2018). The cost of mental health related calls on police service: Evidence from British Columbia. In MitchellR.HueyL. (Eds.), Evidence-based policing: An introduction (pp. 173-185). Bristol, England: Policy Press.
46.
VaughanA. D.HewittA. N.AndresenM. A.BrantinghamP. L. (2016). Exploring the role of the environmental context in the spatial distribution of calls-for-service associated with emotionally disturbed persons. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 10, 121-133.
47.
VaughanA. D.HewittA. N.AndresenM. A.Verdun-JonesS. N.BrantinghamP. L. (2019). The importance of gender in the spatial distribution of police interactions involving emotionally disturbed persons: An examination of call types. Policing & Society, 29, 137-154.
48.
Vazquez-BourgonJ.Salvador-CarullaL.Vazquez-BarqueroJ. L. (2012). Community alternatives to acute inpatient care for severe psychiatric patients. Actas Espanolas de Psiquiatria, 40, 232-332.
49.
WalshE.BuchananA.FahyT. (2002). Violence and schizophrenia: Examining the evidence. British Journal of Psychiatry, 180, 490-495.
50.
WatsonA. C.AngellB.VidalonT.DavisK. (2010). Measuring perceived procedural justice and coercion among persons with mental illness in police encounters: The Police Contact Experience Scale. Journal of Community Psychology, 38, 206-226.
51.
WeibeD. (2016). Vancouver police mental health strategy: A comprehensive approach for a proportional police response to persons living with mental illness. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: Vancouver Police Department.
52.
WeisburdD. (2015). The law of crime concentration and the criminology of place. Criminology, 53, 133-157.
53.
WeisburdD.BushwayS.LumC.YangS. M. (2004). Trajectories of crime at places: A longitudinal study of street segments in the city of Seattle. Criminology, 42, 283-322.
54.
WeisburdD.CaveB.NelsonM.WhiteC.HavilandA.ReadyJ.SikkemaK. (2018). Mean streets and mental health: Depression and post-traumatic stress disorder at crime hot spots. American Journal of Community Psychology, 61, 285-295.
55.
WeisburdD.EckJ. E. (2004). What can police do to reduce crime, disorder, and fear?The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 593(1), 42-65.
56.
WhiteC.GoldbergV. (2018). Hot spots of mental health crises: A look at the concentration of mental health calls and future directions for policing. Policing: An International Journal, 41, 401-414.
57.
WhiteC.WeisburdD. (2017). A co-responder model for policing mental health problems at crime hot spots: Findings from a pilot project. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 12, 194-209.
58.
WilsonW. J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city, the underclass, and public policy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
59.
Wilson-BatesF. (2008). Lost in transition: How a lack of capacity in the mental health system is failing Vancouver’s mentally ill and draining police resources. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: Vancouver Police Department.
60.
WoodJ. D.WatsonA. C. (2017). Improving police interventions during mental health-related encounters: Past, present and future. Policing & Society, 27, 289-299.
61.
WuschkeK. E.AndresenM. A.BrantinghamP. J.RattenburyC.RichardsA. (2018). What do police do and where do they do it?International Journal of Police Science & Management, 20(1), 19-27.
