Changing Law Enforcement Attitudes Towards Mental Illness

Abstract of CHANGING LAW ENFORCEMENT ATTITUDES TOWARDS MENTAL ILLNESS by Zsa Zsa Sweeney Law enforcement officers are becoming frontline mental health workers. Crisis Intervention Training, CIT, has been researched to identify safer, more effective ways to assist police response to community mental health needs. Attitudes play a significant role in behaviors, therefore this study aims to determine how to positively change officers attitudes and in turn behaviors when contacting persons with mental health needs. The purpose of this study will be to answer the question, “Does the implementation of an educational seminar on mental health impact attitudes towards mental illness of law enforcement officers?” Participants include 120 officers enrolled in a three day PERT Academy training in San Diego. The study will be conducted over a 4-month period. The instrument used is the Mental Health Attitude Survey for Police, MHASP. Data will be analyzed using paired t test to determine pre and post intervention results. Keywords: Law Enforcement; Mental Health; Crisis Intervention Training