Reuland, Melissa
While this guide is written for police departments, sheriff’s offices should find it helpful for developing approaches to interacting with mentally ill people. The step-by-step program design process incorporates seven actions. Additionally, program designs in action are covered showing responses to specific problems and also jurisdictional characteristics.
“The purpose of this document is to provide readers with a description of how statewide efforts can be organized and play a role in supporting SPRs [specialized policing responses] within their borders” (p. viii). The two prevalent SPRs being Crisis Intervention Teams (CITs) and police-mental health co-responder teams. The information provided is important for anyone dealing with mentally ill offenders in the community. This report is divided into three main sections: the structure of statewide efforts—lead agency type, and staffing and resources; the objectives of statewide efforts—supporting local agencies to develop a SPR, encouraging local agencies to adhere to key SPR elements, and sustaining efforts statewide; and the future of statewide efforts. Appendixes include a CIT policy from the Hartford (CT) Police Department, and a chart and short case studies on how eight states (CO, CT, FL, GE, IL, ME, OH, and UT) coordinate SPRs.
