Police-Citizen Encounters That Involve Mental Health Concerns: Results of an Ontario Police Services Survey

Police services in Ontario were surveyed to learn about changes in volume of contacts with persons with mental illness & use of pre-arrest diversion practices between 2003-2007. Information was also gathered on calls received & cleared that involved suicide threats, attempts, & completions. Findings indicated a trend of increasing police encounters with persons with mental illness. Police services had a range of diversion practices in place although actual implementation was lower. Continuing work to create a provincial standardized database of police-citizen encounter data would facilitate efforts to better understand when & how diversion practices are implemented & with what results. (38 refs.) JA

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