Krishan Shaily, Bakeman Roger, Broussard Beth, Cristofaro Sarah L, Hankerson-Dyson Dana, Husbands Letheshia, Watson Amy C, Compton Michael T
Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Georgia State University, Department of Psychology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Int J Law Psychiatry. 2014 Jul-Aug;37(4):359-69. doi: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2014.02.006. Epub 2014 Mar 15.
Police officers' decisions and behaviors are impacted by the neighborhood context in which police encounters occur. For example, officers may use greater force and be more likely to make arrests in disadvantaged neighborhoods. We examined whether neighborhood characteristics influence police encounters with individuals suspected to have a serious mental illness, addictive disorder, or developmental disability.
We obtained data on 916 encounters from 166 officers in six jurisdictions in Georgia, USA and abstracted geographical data pertaining to the location of these encounters from United States Decennial Census data. Encounters were nested within 163 census tracts. Officer-reported data covered general encounter characteristics, the officer's perception of the subject's condition, subject demographics, use of force, and disposition of the encounter (e.g., arrest v. referral or transport to treatment services). Geographical data included 17 variables representing population and housing characteristics of the census tracts, from which three indices pertaining to neighborhood income, stability, and immigration status were derived using factor-analytic techniques. We then examined associations of these indices with various encounter-related variables using multi-level analysis.
Encounters taking place in higher-income and higher-stability census tracts were more likely to be dispatch-initiated and take place in a private home compared to those in lower-income and lower-stability neighborhoods. In higher-income neighborhoods, encounters were more likely to involve a subject suspected to have a mental illness (as opposed to an addictive disorder or developmental disability) and less likely to involve a subject suspected to have alcohol problems. The officer's level of force used was not associated with neighborhood factors. Regarding disposition, although the likelihood of arrest was unrelated to neighborhood characteristics, encounters taking place in higher-immigrant neighborhoods were more likely to result in referral or transport to services than those in lower-immigrant neighborhoods.
Neighborhood characteristics are important to consider in research on police interactions with individuals with serious mental illnesses, addictive disorders, or developmental disabilities. Such research could inform departmental training policies and procedures based on the needs of the jurisdictions served.
警察的决策和行为会受到警察遭遇事件发生的社区环境的影响。例如，警察在处境不利的社区可能会使用更大的武力，并且更有可能实施逮捕。我们研究了社区特征是否会影响警察与疑似患有严重精神疾病、成瘾性障碍或发育障碍的个体之间的遭遇。
我们从美国佐治亚州六个司法管辖区的166名警察那里获取了916次遭遇事件的数据，并从美国十年一次的人口普查数据中提取了与这些遭遇事件地点相关的地理数据。遭遇事件嵌套在163个普查区中。警察报告的数据涵盖了一般遭遇事件特征、警察对当事人状况的认知、当事人的人口统计学信息、武力使用情况以及遭遇事件的处理方式（例如，逮捕与转介或送往治疗服务机构）。地理数据包括17个代表普查区人口和住房特征的变量，使用因子分析技术从中得出了与社区收入、稳定性和移民身份相关的三个指数。然后，我们使用多层次分析研究了这些指数与各种与遭遇事件相关的变量之间的关联。
与低收入和低稳定性社区相比，在高收入和高稳定性普查区发生的遭遇事件更有可能是由调度发起的，并且更有可能发生在私人住宅中。在高收入社区，遭遇事件更有可能涉及疑似患有精神疾病的当事人（与成瘾性障碍或发育障碍相对），而涉及疑似有酒精问题的当事人的可能性较小。警察使用武力的程度与社区因素无关。关于处理方式，虽然逮捕的可能性与社区特征无关，但在移民率较高的社区发生的遭遇事件比在移民率较低的社区更有可能导致转介或送往服务机构。
在研究警察与患有严重精神疾病、成瘾性障碍或发育障碍的个体之间的互动时，社区特征是需要考虑的重要因素。此类研究可为基于所服务司法管辖区需求的部门培训政策和程序提供参考。
