Subject injury and police use of force in mental health crises

Abstract

This study examines the relative likelihood of police officer firearm use and severity of subject injury in officer encounters with subjects in mental health crises (MHC) and those not in mental health crises (nMHC). The study sample is from a dataset of officer involved shootings (OIS) and officer use of force (UOF) incidents from 26 large law enforcement agencies (LEAs) in the U.S. Logistic and ordinal regressions were used to assess whether subject UOF, resisting arrest, weapon use, intoxication or sociodemographic factors were related to officer firearm use and severity of subject injury, comparing cases involving MHC (N = 1334) and nMHC (N = 2848). Though the risk of officer firearm use and severity of subject injury were significantly positively correlated with being in MHC, there was no significant difference in either outcome between individuals in MHC and nMHC after controlling for the other predictors in the regressions. Compared to those in nMHC at the time of their encounter with the police, those in MHC were found to be more likely to resist arrest, use a weapon, and be intoxicated during encounters with police. People of color were at uniquely high risk for more severe injury in nMHC but not those in MHC. Additionally, the subject being intoxicated was associated with increased risk of officer firearm use in MHC but not in nMHC. This study identified specific populations (e.g., people of color, those with comorbid mental illness and substance use) and specific subject behaviors (e.g., weapon use) associated with increased risk of officer firearm use and subject injury that are more likely in MHC and warrant further protection during police encounters. Study findings highlight the critical importance that officers receive training in best practices in identifying when a subject is in MHC, implement appropriate de-escalation strategies, and partner with mental health professionals to increase mental health care utilization and decrease risk of harm.