Helfgott Jacqueline B, Hickman Matthew J, Labossiere Andre P
Department of Criminal Justice, 330E Casey Building, Seattle University, 900 Broadway, Seattle, WA 98122, United States.
Department of Criminal Justice, 332E Casey Building, Seattle University, 900 Broadway, Seattle, WA 98122, United States.
Int J Law Psychiatry. 2016 Jan-Feb;44:109-22. doi: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2015.08.038. Epub 2015 Aug 24.
The Seattle Police Department (SPD) recently enhanced their response to individuals in behavioral crisis through a pilot Crisis Response Team (CRT) consisting of dedicated Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) officers (OFC) paired with a Mental Health Professional (MHP). This study presents results of an incident-based descriptive evaluation of the SPD's CRT pilot program, implemented from 2010 to 2012. The purpose of the evaluation was to determine the value-added by the MHP in cases involving individuals in behavioral crisis as well as the effectiveness of the CRT program with regard to resolution time, repeat contacts, and referral to services. Data were collected from SPD general offense and supplemental reports for a 12-month segment of the program. Key variables included incident location, case clearance, repeat contacts, linkages to services, and case disposition. Results of analyses of general offense and supplemental reports are presented and implications for future development of the OFC/MHP partnership are discussed.
