Main description:

Police officers deal with mental illness-related incidents on an almost daily basis. Ian Cummins explores how factors such as deinstitutionalisation, community care failings and, more recently, welfare retrenchment policies have led to this situation. He then considers how police officers should be supported by community mental health agencies to make confident and correct decisions, and to ensure that the individuals they encounter receive support from the most appropriate services.
Of interest to police researchers and students of criminology and the social sciences, the book examines police officers' views on mental health work and includes a chapter by a service user.

Contents:

Introduction
1. Policing and society
2. Mental health and mental illness: key themes and perspectives
3. Policing, mental health and the criminal justice system
4. 'Street-level psychiatrists'?
5. Policing and stress
6. A comparative study of mental health triage - Alice Park
7. Defunding the police: a mental health perspective
Conclusion