Psych · Emergency psychiatry — police liaison and community emergency detention
Police liaison and community emergency detention
Also known as Police mental health liaison · Crisis Intervention Team CIT · Street triage · Co-responder model · Section 136 · Emergency psychiatric detention · Place of safety · Community emergency examination
Exam-exhaustive fellowship reference on police–mental-health liaison in the community, emergency detention principles (public-place vs private-premises pathways), place-of-safety standards, CIT and co-responder/street-triage models, medical-first assessment, least-restrictive alternatives, information-sharing, documentation, equity, and multi-region legal humility without inventing statutes. FRANZCP-primary, globally tagged.
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Red flags
- Organic emergency (hypoxia, hypoglycaemia, head injury, encephalitis, severe intoxication) labelled as 'behaviour' and diverted only to custody
- Police cell used as default place of safety when a health facility is available and safe
- Inventing Mental Health Act section numbers or universal detention time limits across jurisdictions
- Named victim, weapons, or imminent violence at scene without simultaneous safety, de-escalation, and protective plan
- Releasing a high-risk person after police conveyance without specialist assessment or crisis follow-up
- Excessive force / prolonged prone restraint during conveyance — airway and positional safety risks
Meet the patient
A 31-year-old man with known schizophrenia has stopped his depot. He is standing on a suburban footbridge at midnight, shouting that he is being followed. A member of the public has called the police. He is not violent, but he is frightened and he is close to the edge of the road.[1][11]
Two services arrive at the same scene with two different toolkits. The fellowship question is not which one takes him — it is whether the response was designed to keep him out of custody, into assessment, and alive. That design is what this topic teaches.[2][11]
References17ShowHide
- [1]Deane MW, Steadman HJ, Borum R, et al. Emerging partnerships between mental health and law enforcement Psychiatr Serv, 1999.PMID 9890588
- [2]Steadman HJ, Deane MW, Borum R, et al. Comparing outcomes of major models of police responses to mental health emergencies Psychiatr Serv, 2000.PMID 10783184
- [3]Borum R, Deane MW, Steadman HJ, et al. Police perspectives on responding to mentally ill people in crisis: perceptions of program effectiveness Behav Sci Law, 1998.PMID 9924765
- [4]Compton MT, Bahora M, Watson AC, et al. A comprehensive review of extant research on Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) programs J Am Acad Psychiatry Law, 2008.PMID 18354123
- [5]Compton MT, Bakeman R, Broussard B, et al. The police-based crisis intervention team (CIT) model: I. Effects on officers' knowledge, attitudes, and skills Psychiatr Serv, 2014.PMID 24382628
- [6]Compton MT, Bakeman R, Broussard B, et al. The police-based crisis intervention team (CIT) model: II. Effects on level of force and resolution, referral, and arrest Psychiatr Serv, 2014.PMID 24382643
- [7]Watson AC, Fulambarker AJ The Crisis Intervention Team model of police response to mental health crises: a primer for mental health practitioners Best Pract Ment Health, 2012.PMID 24039557
- [8]Watson AC, Compton MT, Draine JN The crisis intervention team (CIT) model: An evidence-based policing practice? Behav Sci Law, 2017.PMID 28856706
- [9]Rogers MS, McNiel DE, Binder RL Effectiveness of Police Crisis Intervention Training Programs J Am Acad Psychiatry Law, 2019.PMID 31551327
- [10]Puntis S, Perfect D, Kirubarajan A, et al. A systematic review of co-responder models of police mental health 'street' triage BMC Psychiatry, 2018.PMID 30111302
- [11]Balfour ME, Hahn Stephenson A, Delany-Brumsey A, et al. Cops, Clinicians, or Both? Collaborative Approaches to Responding to Behavioral Health Emergencies Psychiatr Serv, 2022.PMID 34666512
- [12]Heffernan J, McDonald E, Hughes E, et al. Tri-Response Police, Ambulance, Mental Health Crisis Models in Reducing Involuntary Detentions of Mentally Ill People: Protocol for a Systematic Review Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2021.PMID 34360521
- [13]Borschmann RD, Gillard S, Turner K, et al. Section 136 of the Mental Health Act: a new literature review Med Sci Law, 2010.PMID 20349693
- [14]Lynch RM, Simpson M, Higson M, et al. Section 136, The Mental Health Act 1983; levels of knowledge among accident and emergency doctors, senior nurses and police constables Emerg Med J, 2002.PMID 12101134
- [15]Richmond JS, Berlin JS, Fishkind AB, et al. Verbal De-escalation of the Agitated Patient: Consensus Statement of the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry Project BETA De-escalation Workgroup West J Emerg Med, 2012.PMID 22461917
- [16]Heffernan J, et al. The association between the Police, Ambulance, Clinician Early Response (PACER) model and involuntary detentions of people living with mental illness: A retrospective observational study J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs, 2024.PMID 38567862
- [17]Heffernan J, et al. Tri-Response Police, Ambulance, Mental Health Crisis Models in Reducing Involuntary Detentions of Mentally Ill People: A Systematic Review Healthcare (Basel), 2022.PMID 36548169