Dragana Kesic

Mental illness among police fatalities in Victoria 1982-2007: Case linkage study

Objective: The aim of the present study was to explore the mental health and offending histories for all cases that resulted in fatal use of force by Victoria Police between November 1982 and February 2007. Methods: Forty-eight fatalities were extracted from the Use of Force (UoF) Register, and then linked with the mental health and police contacts databases. These data were supplemented, where necessary, with relevant information from Coronial Reports and an Office of Police Integrity Report. Results: All but six cases had involved recorded histories with mental health and criminal justice systems before the fatal incident occurred. Rates of all Axis I disorders were significantly overrepresented, with estimated rates of psychosis and schizophrenia 11.3- and 17.3-fold higher than estimated rates in the general population (95% confidence intervals = 6.3–20.2 and 9.2–32.4, respectively). Although the number of fatalities has halved since inception of Project Beacon (32 before vs 16 after 1995), there has been no reduction in representation of mental illness among those fatally shot. Conclusions: The significant over-representation of Axis I disorders, including severe mental disorders of psychosis and schizophrenia, is of considerable concern for both the police and the mental health providers. Functional interagency partnerships and police training on how to interact with people in distress are recommended to address the overrepresentation of mentally ill persons in these encounters.

Use of nonfatal force on and by persons with apparent mental disorder in encounters with police

Although a number of factors have been examined in relation to their effect on the prevalence and characteristics of police use of force, studies examining whether the person appeared to be mentally ill during the incident are lacking. Police recorded that 306 (7.2%) of the 4,267 people on whom they used force in Victoria, Australia, between 1995 and 2008 appeared to have a mental disorder. This group was more likely to threaten or use weapons on police and to have weapons used or threatened against them by police, as compared to those not deemed by police to be mentally disordered. Increased emphasis on communication and verbal deescalation tactics during police training and practice as well as proactive broader system-level changes should be implemented between police and mental health services to enable more effective management of these incidents to reduce the need to resort to increased use of force to resolve them.

Analysis of fatal police shootings: time, space, and suicide by police

Police use of lethal force occurs rarely and is legally permissible when used appropriately. When police use fatal force, their behavior is highly scrutinized by the legal system and the public. The present study analyzed factors characteristic of 45 coronial investigations of police engagements that culminated in civilian fatalities between 1980 and 2008 in Victoria, Australia. Findings suggest that fatalities commonly occurred at arrest during unplanned police operation, and the majority of incidents were of short duration. The majority of the decedents were armed, acted aggressively, resisted arrest, and escalated the incident. A third of the incidents met the criteria for possible suicide by police. Differences in mental health, incident, and police response characteristics were found between those who met these criteria and those who did not. The findings and their implications for law enforcement, the public, and the mental health system are presented and discussed.

Police management of mental health crisis situations in the community: status quo, current gaps and future directions

This paper considers the application of principles widely used to conceptualise and address violent and aggressive behaviour in psychiatric settings and examines if and to what extent they may be applicable to the police resolution of community-based mental health crisis encounters. It suggests that police should distill the significant accumulated practical wisdom available within its ranks to inform the beginnings of an evidence-based approach regarding effective resolution of such incidents. These can then be further validated within the frameworks of interpersonal theory and enhanced therapeutic communication style recommended in psychiatric settings to help better equip police with a suite of evidence-based tools when encountering such situations.

Do prior histories of violence and mental disorders impact on violent behaviour during encounters with police

Despite sustained large-scale educational campaigns, public attitudes towards mental illness have remained persistently negative. Associated with this, recent research from Victoria, Australia, reported that police commonly associated violent behaviour with mental illness. The present study examined 4267 cases of police use of force and considered what differentiated and characterised violent from non-violent behaviours reported by police in the context of a use of force incident. The specific focus was to examine the effects that historical variables such as age, gender, prior violent offending and having a prior diagnosis of mental disorder, as well as incident specific factors such as exhibiting signs of mental disorder and substance intoxication have on violent behaviour during the use of force incident. The proximal factors of apparent mental disorder and alcohol intoxication were significantly associated with violent behaviour towards police, whilst having a history of prior violence and prior mental disorder diagnoses was not associated with violence. The results challenge traditional stereotyped views about the violence risk posed by people with prior contact with mental health services and those with prior violent offending histories. A service model that allows for psychiatric triage would be able to assist with streamlining police involvement and facilitating timely access to mental health services.

The frequency and nature of resolution of potential police provoked shooting encounters

Helping people in acute psychiatric crisis has become an increasingly common part of modern community policing. In certain extreme cases, police may be faced with a suicidal individual who intends to intentionally provoke police to shoot them. While fatalities are fortunately rare, anecdotal reports from frontline police suggest that these kinds of encounters are occurring on a regular basis. This paper explores 2350 psychiatric crisis incidents over an eight-month period in Victoria, Australia, and assesses the frequency and nature of potential police-provoked shootings resolved through non-fatal means. Contextual factors relating to the persons behaviour and police responses, and the persons psychiatric and criminal histories were considered to elucidate characteristics common to these incidents. Results suggest that police are potentially encountering a person who is suicidal and trying to provoke police to shoot them more than twice a week. These individuals share a number of common characteristics with those who have been fatally shot in similar circumstances and are quite different from those who attempt self-inflicted suicide. Results are discussed in relation to the impact of previous criminal contact from both the suspect and police perspectives.

Attempted suspect-provoked shootings in Victoria: prevalence and characteristics

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of attempted suspect-provoked shootings (SPS) in Victoria, Australia, and explore nonlethal tactics police officers use to resolve such incidents. Design/methodology/approach A random sample of 20 percent of police-attended incidents was sourced from a police contact-based database. The narrative of each incident was coded using established criteria for “suicide-by-cop.” Incidents that met the criteria were further analyzed to elucidate historical and situational characteristics. To supplement these data, operational police officers were invited to participate in a survey about particulars of an attempted SPS incident that they had attended and resolved non-fatally. Findings Police are encountering these incidents up to three times a week in Victoria, Australia. While they engage in a range of tactics, police report that communication and negotiation skills are the most effective means of successful resolution. Research limitations/implications Although the survey attempted to correct for the potential limitations of using administrative data for research purposes, its weakness is in the modest sample size that utilizes self-report data that may lead to recall biases. Further research would benefit from using complementary methodologies that seek to examine police tactics and elucidate decision-making processes using video-based or written vignettes. Practical implications Officers’ awareness of both the commonalty of this phenomenon and of the important situational characteristics may lead to greater skill and confidence in managing these. Originality/value This is one of the very few published studies investigating prevalence and characteristics of attempted SPS incidents.