Policing Mental Health: Public Safety and Crime Prevention in Canada - Paperback

by Laura Huey (Author), Jennifer L. Schulenberg (Author), Jacek Koziarski (Author)

This brief addresses the question of the various ways in which mental health-related issues have become police responsibility. It provides a detailed understanding of the myriad of ways in which police are often called upon to be the primary responder to mental health-related issues, well beyond the standard media images of individuals in extreme crisis.

Drawing upon the results of two separate ethnographies of police practices in Canada, this volume examines how public policing has become entangled in cases of persons with mental illness (PMI). It examines two aspects of the police role and mandate that brings police officers into contact with individuals dealing with mental health disorders: public safety, and crime prevention and response. It explores police perceptions towards the roles they play in the lives of PMI, and police demands in these types of calls for service that have transformed aspects of public policing.

Appropriate for policing researchers, law enforcement and public policymakers, this book presents the argument that tackling this matter requires knowledge of police involvement in situations with PMI, as well as a set of evidence-based policy options that will not generate additional resource or other strains.

Back Jacket

This brief addresses the question of the various ways in which mental health-related issues have become police responsibility. It provides a detailed understanding of the myriad of ways in which police are often called upon to be the primary responder to mental health-related issues, well beyond the standard media images of individuals in extreme crisis.

Drawing upon the results of two separate ethnographies of police practices in Canada, this volume examines how public policing has become entangled in cases of persons with mental illness (PMI). It examines two aspects of the police role and mandate that brings police officers into contact with individuals dealing with mental health disorders: public safety, and crime prevention and response. It explores police perceptions towards the roles they play in the lives of PMI, and police demands in these types of calls for service that have transformed aspects of public policing.

Appropriate for policing researchers, law enforcement and public policymakers, this book presents the argument that tackling this matter requires knowledge of police involvement in situations with PMI, as well as a set of evidence-based policy options that will not generate additional resource or other strains.

Author Biography

Dr. Laura Huey is Professor of Sociology at the University of Western Ontario, Editor of Police Practice & Research, Chair of the Working Group on Mental Health and Policing of the Royal Society of Canada, and the former Executive Director of the Canadian Society of Evidence Based Policing. She is also a member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada and a Senior Research Fellow with the National Police Foundation.

Dr. Huey's work in the field of crime and security is primarily focused on policing (frontline and criminal investigation), victimization, terrorism, and cyber-security. Her research has appeared in the British Journal of Sociology, the British Journal of Criminology, Sociological Review, Society & Mental Health, Theoretical Criminology, Criminology and Criminal Justice, the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and various other international journals. She has authored several books on policing and the provision of security. She is also an International Advisory Editor for Theoretical Criminology and on the editorial advisory boards of Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, the Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice. This will be her 8^th book.

Dr. Jennifer Schulenberg is Associate Professor and Associate Chair for Undergraduate Legal Studies at the University of Waterloo. In 2019 she was an EU Erasmus + Teaching Fellow at the University of Graz. Dr. Schulenberg's research focuses on frontline policing, police decision-making, vulnerable populations and youth justice. Working closely with police practitioner communities, she is also the author of several government reports and has either consulted with various community crime prevention groups or sits as a committee member on community safety advisory panels. The author of peer-reviewed publications in policing and research methods - among other topics - her work has appeared in: The Journal of Crime & Delinquency, Criminal Justice and Behavior, the Journal of Experimental Criminology, Criminal Justice Policy Review and Police Quarterly, among others.

Jacek Koziarski is a PhD Candidate in the Sociology Department at the University of Western Ontario, Managing Editor of Police Practice & Research, a Research Associate for the Canadian Society of Evidence-Based Policing, a Research Fellow with the Saskatoon Police Service, and an Independent Research Consultant. His research centers on various aspects of policing, with a particular focus on police interactions with people with mental illness. Another line of inquiry for Mr. Koziarski's work centers around examining the spatial and temporal patterns of both crime and non-crime-related policing issues. Some of his research has appeared in peer-reviewed outlets such as Crime Science, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, and Victims & Offenders, among other outlets.