The processing of people with serious mental illness (PWMI) through the criminal justice system is widespread and often occurs when mental health services are unavailable or difficult to access. In such instances, police, court, and jail procedures have become default mechanisms for handling criminal cases that include mentally ill individuals, especially those who are perceived as recalcitrant or dangerous. The current article focuses on how PWMI affect police operations. The article is divided into four sections. The first section discusses the factors that have led to an influx of mentally ill individuals into the criminal justice system. The second section describes police contacts with PWMI and the limited options that officers face when seeking to resolve, successfully, service calls that involve the mentally ill. The third section examines police training and specialised programmes that have been implemented in order to help police officers respond more effectively to the problems of the mentally ill. The final section offers suggestions for improving police services for PWMI.
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