Responding to crisis: the intersection of police officer attitudes, organizational climate, and mental health crises.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Police responses to people with serious mental illness (SMI) disproportionately result in negative outcomes, underscoring the importance of understanding the factors that may influence how police respond to mental health crises. Little research has examined officer attitudes toward mental illness, and no study has examined implicit bias toward mental illness among police officers or how bias and police departmental climate may impact outcomes in mental health crises. The present study assesses the role of explicit and implicit bias toward mental illness, as well as departmental climate, on police officer decision-making in a mental health crisis.

Methods

Police officers in the United States (n = 198) were recruited from personal contacts, emails to leadership and

SUBMITTER: Todd TL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12502404 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature