New Wilson Center report explores alternatives to law enforcement transport for people experiencing behavioral health crises
For too many people experiencing acute mental illness, cries for help bring police and handcuffs rather than compassionate medical intervention. But this doesn’t have to be the case. The Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law explores this issue and makes recommendations in our latest report:
“When people experiencing mental health crises face involuntary civil commitment, transport by law enforcement can in itself be traumatic. Being put in a squad car and potentially handcuffed makes an already difficult process for a person needing treatment that much harder,” says lead report author Katie Lazar, a Master’s in Public Policy Candidate at Duke University and law student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “It can be especially dangerous for people of color experiencing mental health crises, as Black and Brown people are already more likely than white people to experience force at the hands of police,” she adds.
This report examines the laws across the U.S. related to law enforcement custody and transportation under involuntary civil commitment, when alternative transport is permitted, and opportunities to reduce the role of law enforcement in these situations when possible. It also recommends the following:
- State policymakers should ensure state statutes allow for non-law enforcement transportation for all involuntary civil commitment pathways when appropriate.
- States should provide adequate funding and technical assistance to ensure communities can implement non-law enforcement transportation.
- States and localities should implement creative crisis interventions designed to minimize the need for law enforcement transportation.
- States and law enforcement agencies should review policies and procedures so that when law enforcement transportation is necessary, it is conducted in the least harmful way possible. For example, when law enforcement transportation is necessary, the officer should be dressed in plain clothes, transportation should be with an unmarked car, and the officer should be of the same gender as the patient.
- To effectively monitor involuntary civil commitment processes, states should require data collection on the entirety of the IVC process, including transportation.
“Not only does law enforcement involvement blur the lines between treatment and criminalization of mental illness, but law enforcement officers also widely report that they do not feel well-equipped to handle mental health crises,” says report co-author Dr. Marvin Swartz, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University and Wilson Center Behavioral Health Core Faculty Member. “It is our hope that the recommendations in this report can assist jurisdictions in establishing transport policies that minimize interaction with law enforcement to benefit both people experiencing mental health crises as well as redirect law enforcement time and resources to issues better suited to police involvement.”