Interactions between Police and Persons in Crisis

De-escalation

In response to high profile deaths during police-public interactions, there have been calls for the increased use of de-escalation by police officers. Despite the pervasiveness of these calls de-escalation is often discussed without being formally defined. This current line of work is developing a comprehensive and reliable framework to measure the use of de-escalation techniques. This work aims to inform future attempts at developing a widely accepted definition of de-escalation, as well as to inform officer training.

Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams

Interactions between the police and persons in crisis have increased over time and make up a significant portion of police calls for service. However, these interactions are very challenging for police officers and are often criticized by the public. One response to the various challenges associated with these calls is the development of a co-responding unit made up of a police officer and a mental health professional who respond to crisis/mental health-related calls. These are commonly referred to as mobile crisis intervention teams or co-response teams. My research uses mixed-methods to examine the impact of  these teams on police service operations (e.g., time spent on calls, cost), as well as the extent to which they provide enhanced service to members of the public.