Gravely Disabled: The Vestigial Prong of 5150 Designations.

Effective July 1, 1972, California's Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPS Act) set the precedent for modern mental health commitment procedures in the U.S. named after its authors, State Assemblyman Frank Lanterman and State Senators Nicholas C. Petris and Alan Short, the LPS Act sought to "end the inappropriate, indefinite, and involuntary commitment of persons with mental health disorder"; to "provide prompt evaluation and treatment of persons with mental health disorders or impaired by chronic alcoholism"; and to "guarantee and protect public safety." Despite citing to these articles of intent, the LPS Act violates its own legislative intent through its inclusion of "gravely disabled" in its enforcement of involuntary psychiatric hold designations (also known as "5150 designations"). First, police officers are not required to make a medical diagnosis of a mental health disorder at the time of a 5150 designation; the broad scope of "gravely disabled" increases the number of persons police officers can involuntarily transport, increasing the likelihood of inappropriate and involuntary commitment of persons with mental health disorders. Second, the broad scope of "gravely disabled" produces an onslaught of 5150-designated persons (whether improperly designated or not) being sent to LPS-designated hospitals with limited resources (e.g., lack of beds and psychiatric staff); this results in patients waiting for an inordinate amount of time for a psychiatric evaluation and/or a hospital bed. Third, it is unclear whether the LPS Act sought to provide protection for the mentally ill or to provide protection from the mentally ill in its guarantee of protecting "public safety"; the inclusion of "gravely disabled" in 5150 designations indicates that the LPS Act provided the public with a duplicitous means of removing the mentally ill, impoverished, and houseless from the streets under the guise of "public safety." This Paper suggests the following to help remedy the effects of implementing the broadly defined "gravely disabled" in 5150 designations: (1) Remove "gravely disabled" from the 5150 criteria; (2) integrate the community with mental health advocacy efforts by creating outreach and education programs; and (3) implement a client-centric approach to interacting with persons with mental health disorders through restorative policing and the establishment of a restorative court.

The Right Time and Place: A New Approach for Prioritizing Alcohol Enforcement and Prevention Efforts by Combining the Prevalence and the Success Rate for Minors Purchasing Alcohol Themselves.

OBJECTIVE: In the Netherlands, enforcement of the alcohol age limit is low and inconsistent because of limited resources. A solution is to optimize the efforts of enforcement officers by prioritizing ways in which they regulate commercial alcohol availability. This could increase compliance by sellers, curbing commercial availability. The objective of this study is to present the development of a commercial alcohol availability estimate (CAAE) for all vendor types selling alcohol and to propose a priority ranking. METHOD: A multi-method design was used, combining data (collected in 2015) from national studies reporting behavior of minors purchasing alcohol themselves and the success rate (noncompliance) of alcohol vendors (interviewing 510 minors by telephone and conducting 1,373 purchase attempts of alcohol by minors, respectively). Descriptive data and the development of the CAAE are presented. RESULTS: Compared with other vendor types (e.g., sports bars or supermarkets), bars/cafes/discos scored highest on the CAAE, indicating that 7.7% of 16- to 17-year-olds in the survey reported successfully purchasing their own alcohol at this vendor type. CONCLUSIONS: To control commercial alcohol availability efficiently for minors in the Netherlands, our estimates suggest that enforcement and prevention efforts should prioritize bars/cafes/discos. However, local authorities should also consider local circumstances and maintain a base amount of attention for all vendor types. Ultimately, the CAAE has the potential to improve enforcer capacity and efficiency in policing commercial alcohol regulation, and prevention workers could align their interventions or campaigns to high-ranked vendor types.

Coroners court and directions to juries in Article 2 inquests.

Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) protects the Right to Life that is invoked in an inquest where the diseased has expired in circumstances of custody or control by an agency of state. The High Court in 2012 ordered the second inquest in the Hillsborough case where the correct directions to the jury were read as to when there is a breach of such a duty. The inquest findings resulted in criminal charges being brought against two former senior police officers, who were indicted linked to the disaster. This paper examines the inquest process where there is a jury and considers the framework of the Coroners Court in the context of Article 2 where death has occurred under circumstances of duress.

Profiles of law enforcement agency body armor policies-A latent class analysis of the LEMAS 2013 data.

The life-saving benefits of body armor have been well-documented, and law enforcement agency (LEA) body armor wear requirements have been cited by police officers as one of the most important reasons for them to wear body armor. However, research on LEAs' policies and practices regarding body armor is scarce. This study examined whether there are different agency-level profiles of various body armor-related policies, and related these body armor policy profiles to agency characteristics, size, location, etc. U.S. LEAs fell into four distinct profiles based on their body armor policies. Close to half of the LEAs had comprehensive coverage of body armor policies in all aspects. However, nearly one in five LEAs had very weak body armor policies in all aspects. The rest of the LEAs split into two groups, each with different strengths and weaknesses on selection, training, fitting, wearing, and inspection policies. Sheriff's offices and smaller LEAs were found to have weaker policies. In contrast, LEAs with a community policing emphasis and those with body armor grants were found to have stronger body armor polices, especially when it comes to mandatory wearing polices. Findings from the study provide a portrait of the current state of LEA body armor policies, and provide guidance for improving LEAs' body armor policies and practices.

Agents of the Father's law in a society of brothers: A philosophic and psychoanalytic perspective on legitimate use of violence.

This paper explores subjective processes of "Agents of Law" - individuals who the state grants the authority to use violence - and the dissonance stemming from the contradictory demands posed on them as legitimate users of violence despite the societal taboo against violence. A conceptual model will be offered based on two theoretical legs, Lacanian psychoanalysis and political theories of legitimacy. Specifically, psychoanalytic ideas would serve to examine unconscious processes, subject position and various identifications related to the question of "self-legitimacy" of Agents of Law. A central link between psychoanalysis and political thought is found in the image of the father and in the triad ruler-God-Father, which calls for an oedipal analysis. A psychoanalytic reading of two philosophical schools that elaborated on the question of legitimacy will be presented, and yield two analytic poles of a model for the understanding of possible subject positions of agents of Law: identification with a "Living Father" vs. identification with a "Dead Father". The psychoanalytic reading will shed light on the limitations of the philosophical perspectives in reflecting on the various (im)possible psychological positions of agents of Law. Finally, then, it will be shown how psychoanalysis helps finding words to characterize different nuances in the coping of agents of Law with the contradictory demands posed on them in an age in which God is dead, the father was murdered and the king was beheaded.

The Dark Figure of Stalking: Examining Law Enforcement Response.

Despite the growing body of scholarship on stalking victimization, the criminal justice system's response has been substantially understudied. Although scholars consider stalking to be a significant issue, its prevalence is not echoed in official data representing stalking arrests and convictions. The disparity between prevalence estimates and official data reinforces a "dark figure" of stalking that warrants further examination. To develop a better understanding of underreporting and/or underrecording, this exploratory study used official data from the Houston Police Department to examine police response to stalking. Findings indicated that, compared with other interpersonal crimes, incidents of stalking are dramatically underrecorded. Over an 8-year period, there were a total of 3,756 stalking calls for service, 66 stalking-related incident reports, and only 12 arrests for stalking. However, not one of the stalking calls for service generated a stalking-related incident report nor an arrest for stalking. Of the stalking calls for service that did generate an incident report, the large majority of the reports were classified as either harassment or a violation of a protective order. Furthermore, incident reports and arrests for stalking generally emerged from calls for service for harassment or terroristic threats. Implications for research and policy are discussed.

One American Perspective on the Rights of Accused: An Initial Survey of Miranda Rights in a Broader Context.

In the wake of countless police dramas, commonly held misperceptions endure that the American public knows both Miranda warnings and concomitant rights. Past research has tested public knowledge of Miranda per se, without evaluating additional misconceptions. The current investigation utilizes the European Union's much more all-encompassing safeguards, as delineated in the EU's 2012 Directive and Letter of Rights. Besides knowledge of Miranda, the advisability of these enhanced rights and protections was also assessed. In order to obtain a cross-section of the community, 619 participants were recruited from actual jury pools. Interestingly, they believed that Miranda afforded arrestees many more protections than it actually does. In general, nearly all (>90%) agreed that the accused should be given accurate information (e.g., charges and alleged criminal acts) coupled with an absence of police deception. The potential implications of these findings are discussed as they relate to police practices and due process. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The use of a brief mental health screener to enhance the ability of police officers to identify persons with serious mental disorders.

Police agencies in Canada and elsewhere have received much criticism over how they respond to persons with serious mental disorders. The adequacy of training provided to police officers on mental health issues and in particular on recognizing indicators of serious mental disorders has been a major concern. This paper describes the process that led to the development of a new brief mental health screener (interRAI Brief Mental Health Screener, BMHS) designed to assist police officers to better identify persons with serious mental disorders. The interRAI BMHS was developed in collaboration with interRAI, an international, not-for-profit consortium of researchers. The government of Ontario had previously partnered with interRAI to develop and implement the Resident Assessment Instrument for Mental Health (RAI-MH), the assessment system mandated for use on all persons admitted into inpatient psychiatric care in the province. Core items on the interRAI BMHS were obtained through analysis (N=41,019) of RAI-MH data together with input from representatives from health care, police services, and patient groups. Two police services in southwestern Ontario completed forms (N=235) on persons thought to have a mental disorder. Patient records were later accessed to determine patient disposition. The use of summary and inferential statistics revealed that the variables significantly associated with being taken to hospital by police included performing a self-injurious act in the past 30days, and others being concerned over the person's risk for self-injury. Variables significantly associated with being admitted included abnormal thought process, delusions, and hallucinations. The results of the study indicate that the 14-variable algorithm used to construct the interRAI BMHS is a good predictor of who was most likely to be taken to hospital by police officers and who was most likely to be admitted. The instrument is an effective means of capturing and standardizing police officer observations enabling them to provide more and better quality information to emergency department (ED) staff. Teaching police officers to use the form constitutes enhanced training on major indicators of serious mental disorders. Further, given that items on the interRAI BMHS are written in the language of the health system, language acts as common currency between police officers and ED staff laying the foundation for a more collaborative approach between the systems.

The Impact of Psychological Science on Policing in the United States: Procedural Justice, Legitimacy, and Effective Law Enforcement.

The May 2015 release of the report of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing highlighted a fundamental change in the issues dominating discussions about policing in America. That change has moved discussions away from a focus on what is legal or effective in crime control and toward a concern for how the actions of the police influence public trust and confidence in the police. This shift in discourse has been motivated by two factors-first, the recognition by public officials that increases in the professionalism of the police and dramatic declines in the rate of crime have not led to increases in police legitimacy, and second, greater awareness of the limits of the dominant coercive model of policing and of the benefits of an alternative and more consensual model based on public trust and confidence in the police and legal system. Psychological research has played an important role in legitimating this change in the way policymakers think about policing by demonstrating that perceived legitimacy shapes a set of law-related behaviors as well as or better than concerns about the risk of punishment. Those behaviors include compliance with the law and cooperation with legal authorities. These findings demonstrate that legal authorities gain by a focus on legitimacy. Psychological research has further contributed by articulating and demonstrating empirical support for a central role of procedural justice in shaping legitimacy, providing legal authorities with a clear road map of strategies for creating and maintaining public trust. Given evidence of the benefits of legitimacy and a set of guidelines concerning its antecedents, policymakers have increasingly focused on the question of public trust when considering issues in policing. The acceptance of a legitimacy-based consensual model of police authority building on theories and research studies originating within psychology illustrates how psychology can contribute to the development of evidence-based policies in the field of criminal law.

Police bribery and access to methadone maintenance therapy within the context of drug policy reform in Tijuana, Mexico.

AIMS: In 2009, Mexico passed legislation to decriminalize drug possession and improve access to addiction treatment. We undertook research to assess the implementation of the reform among a cohort of people who inject drugs (PWID) in Tijuana. This study specifically sought to determine whether discretionary policing practices like extortion impact access to methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) in Tijuana, a city characterized by high levels of drug-related harms. METHODS: Generalized estimating equation analyses were used to construct longitudinal confounding models to determine the association between paying a police bribe and MMT enrolment among PWID in Tijuana enrolled in a prospective cohort study. Outcome of interest was MMT enrolment in the past six months. Data on police interactions and MMT enrolment were also obtained. RESULTS: Between October, 2011 and September, 2013, 637 participants provided 1825 observations, with 143 (7.8%) reports of MMT enrolment during the study period. In a final confounding model, recently reporting being forced to pay a bribe to police was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of accessing MMT (adjusted odds ratio=1.69, 95% confidence interval: 1.02-2.81, p=0.043). However, in 56 (39.2%) cases, MMT enrolment ceased within six months. The majority of participant responses cited the fact that MMT was too expensive (69.1%). DISCUSSION: Levels of MMT access were low. PWID who experienced police extortion were more likely to access MMT at baseline, though this association decreased during the study period. Coupled with the costs of MMT, this may compromise MMT retention among PWID.

[Assessment of psychological conditions for the use of firearms in law enforcement]. / Evaluación de las condiciones psicológicas para el uso del arma de fuego en los cuerpos de seguridad.

To handle firearms safely, an individual needs to be in sound psychological conditions. This point is especially relevant in law enforcement, given that this group is likely to experience situations where there is a reasonably severe risk to life, physical integrity and that of third parties. These conditions cause high levels of stress and become a significant source of psychological strain. The assessment of these psychological conditions in law enforcement must stay ahead of this strain and should act preventively, establishing surveillance that is the product of a consensus between the needs of professionals and organizations. This evaluation should be conducted by technical specialists who understand and know the occupational reality of these professionals. A good assessment methodology starts with the need to discover the basic areas that need exploring, the ideal procedure for assessing these issues and the criteria that determine the aptitude (or lack thereof) for handling firearms. Once these goals have been established, we can be assured that the assessment will follow a set of principles that will give it homogeneity, effectiveness and efficiency. This type of assessment will help accomplish the mission that these security professionals are entrusted to by law, which is to protect the free exercise of rights and freedoms and ensure citizen safety.

[Occupational risk factors and medical prevention in corrections officers]. / Fattori di Rischio Lavorativo e Prevenzione Medica nella Polizia Penitenziaria.

In Italy, the Law n. 395/1990 defines the tasks and attributions of prison officers. According to the article 25 of the Legislative Decree n. 81/2008, the occupational physician should participate to risk assessment, and carry out the sanitary surveillance. This report analyzes the various tasks of prison staff, identifies the risk factors, and discusses the preventive strategies, including workers formation and education. Biological agents and work-related stress are the main risk factors, as a consequence of prison overcrowding, personnel shortage and work organization complexity. In his preventive action, and particularly in formulating the judgment on work fitness, the occupational physician often clashes with inadequate ministerial funding.

The role of the Chinese police in methadone maintenance therapy: a literature review.

BACKGROUND: The behavior of police is an important factor in drug users' access to preventive and therapeutic health services. In China, opiate users must be registered and approved by police before accessing methadone maintenance treatment (MMT). METHODS: We conducted a literature review to identify studies reporting original data about the influence of Chinese drug policing activities on MMT access and outcomes. Searches were conducted in PubMed, the Law Journal Library of HeinOnline, the Social Science Citation Index and China Academic Journals of CNKI for empirical studies conducted in China and published in academic journals between 2005 and April 2012. RESULTS: The initial literature search retrieved 276 records, of which 85 were included in the review and 191 were excluded. The majority of the included papers were single-clinic observational studies. These studies reported that: (1) fear of incarceration deterred users from initiating and continuing MMT; (2) the rates of MMT referral by police were considerably lower than those by drug user peers and by community and the media; (3) police sending users to compulsory detoxification (DETOX) and reeducation through labor (RTL) centers contributed to higher rates of MMT patient dropout; (4) arrests in and around MMT clinics were not uncommon; (5) cooperation between local police and public health agencies was difficult to achieve; and (6) a limited number of trial programs were conducted to refer detainees in DETOX to MMT clinics after release, but the outcomes were not promising. CONCLUSION: Reviewed studies report drug policing practices that appear to be impeding MMT access and reducing successful treatment outcomes. Research focusing on the nature, prevalence and severity of these effects is urgently needed. Health and public security officials in China should review and reform policies and practices of registering, monitoring, and incarcerating drug users.

[Difficulties medical care of persons placed under hand of justice]. / Difficultés de prise en charge médicale des personnes placées sous main de justice.

The "contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté", french, national mechanism of prevention is an independant authorithy in charge of making sure since 2008 that rights of deprivation of freedom people--particularly access to health--are respected, in any place they are in captivity. The reports of the controllers present that the care of these persons is still a subject of concern as well for them--as the number of letters received by the Contrôleur général shows--as for professionals working in these places. The exercising of these health professionals in these institutions is a care mission to be done in a real partnership with the other actors.

[A rare case of exposure to natural psychoactive substances, and difficulties with medicolegal assessment]. / Rzadki przypadek ekspozycji na naturalne srodki psychoaktywne i trudnosci w opiniowaniu sadowo-lekarskim.

An unusual case of exposure to natural psychoactive substances deriving from Datura stramonium (jimsonweed, thorn-apple) is presented in this article. It may be of interest in this case that a hallucinogenic substance was intentionally administered by a third party. An initial assessment in this criminal case was questionable, and resulted from a lack of consideration of toxicological exposure and its possible aftermath. The above-mentioned case demonstrates the necessity of considering all toxicological aspects of the case, even though initial findings seemed to indicate something else.