Police Decision-Making in the Gray Zone

• Published date: 01 April 2016
• Date: 01 April 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0093854815606762
• Subject Matter: Articles

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2016, Vol. 43, No. 4, April 2016, 459 –482.

DOI: 10.1177/0093854815606762

© 2015 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

459

POLICE DECISION-MAKING IN

THE GRAY ZONE

The Dynamics of Police–Citizen Encounters With

Mentally Ill Persons

JENNIFER L. SCHULENBERG

University of Waterloo

Research finds mentally ill persons have higher rates of police contacts, arrests, and criminal charges for minor offenses and

noncriminal behavior. It remains unclear whether the decision-making process and factors affecting discretion reflect a pro-

cedural bias that criminalizes the mentally ill. Using observational data from a Canadian police service, the findings suggest

higher odds for criminal charges with serious offenses, males, older citizens, a prior criminal record, being under the influ-

ence of alcohol or drugs, and being uncooperative with requests for information and compliance. The odds of a citation are

higher for proactive calls, more serious offenses, older citizens, mentally ill persons, those under the influence, or with a

disrespectful demeanor. The overall findings suggest an indirect procedural bias exists due to situational constraints, a dis-

juncture between policy and police culture, and limited mental health resources that lead to response strategies that contribute

to criminalization of the mentally ill.

Keywords: police decision-making; police discretion; mental health; policing strategies; police practice; criminalization of

the mentally ill

A

growing concern is the fact that persons with a mental illness (PMI) are more likely to

be victims than offenders, but they have higher rates of police contact, arrests, and

criminal charges for minor offenses when compared with the general population (Heslop,

Stitt, & Hoch, 2013). Complicating this further is that we continue to lack consensus on

whether police decision-making practices contribute to the criminalization of mentally ill

persons’ behavior (Godfredson, Thomas, Ogloff, & Luebbers, 2011; Lamb, Weinberger, &

DeCuir, 2002; Novak & Engel, 2005) or if caution should be exercised as this conclusion is

not necessarily generalizable (Brown, Novak, & Frank, 2009; Teplin, 2000; Watson,

Morabito, Draine, & Ottati, 2008). Health Canada estimates that one in five Canadians will

experience a mental health problem in their lifetime (Canadian Mental Health Association,

2014). Yet there is little Canadian research on police interactions with the mental health

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This research was supported in part by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities

Research Council of Canada. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jennifer L.

Schulenberg, Department of Sociology and Legal Studies, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1,

Canada; e-mail: jlschule@uwaterloo.ca.

606762CJBXXX10.1177/0093854815606762Criminal Justice And BehaviorSchulenberg / POLICING MENTALLY ILL PERSONS

research-article2015

460 CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR

system, effective approaches, the content and consistency of training initiatives, or any

standards for collecting data on police–citizen encounters with PMI (Chandrasekera, 2011;

Cotton & Coleman, 2010). As a consequence, the Mental Health Commission of Canada

and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police recognize this growing social problem and

in March, 2014, called for research informing best practices when responding to PMI, the

development of national standards, provincial frameworks, and increased multisectorial

collaboration (Blue Line, 2014).

In recognition of this pressing social problem, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of

Police (2008) released policy guidelines predicated on the following principle:

Each police organization should foster a culture in which mental illness is viewed as a

medical disability not a moral failure, and in which people with mental illnesses are treated

with the same degree of respect as other members of society. It is incumbent on police

leaders to set an appropriate tone by modeling non-derogatory language and ensuring the

assignment of police personnel to mental health-related positions in the organization is

considered carefully. (p. 25)

However, the way in which this manifests itself in policy and practice varies widely. This

incongruence is increasingly an issue for Canadian police services due to a significant

increase in calls for service involving PMI while no training policy framework exists to

ensure consistent implementation of this principle across police services.

Although order maintenance activities comprise much of police work (Brown et al., 2009;

Short, MacDonald, Luebbers, Ogloff, & Thomas, 2014; Smith, Novak, Frank, & Lowenkamp,

2005; Watson et al., 2008), ambiguity and contradictory findings exist for the relationship

between a citizen under the influence of alcohol or drugs and other factors identified as influ-

encing the decision to arrest, including responding to a dispatched call, offense seriousness,

sex, demeanor, and noncompliance with officer directives for information or behavioral

change (Mastrofski, Worden, & Snipes, 1995; Terrill & Paoline, 2007). This analysis is part

of an ongoing conversation about the nature of the relationship between these factors, their

predictive ability, and the decision-making process leading to a criminal charge or citation,

particularly as it is largely unexplored in Canada.

This study seeks to address the question of whether a procedural or decision-making bias

exists when police decide to invoke the law to resolve the police–citizen encounter. Thus,

the research objective is to explore the ways in which the decision-making process and use

of discretion with PMI reflects a systematic procedural bias that can directly or indirectly

contribute to criminalization of the mentally ill. By distinguishing between crime and non-

crime-related encounters, the purpose is to highlight that criminalization of public order and

minor offenses occurs in the context of limits on police decision-making autonomy.

Understanding police decision-making in PMI-related calls remains important as there is a

greater need for partnerships with community mental health resources and training that

equips officers with a framework on which to employ evidence-based practice. After pro-

viding an overview of the factors affecting the use of discretion, a review of policing PMI,

criminalization, and training on police responses to PMI is provided. The method section

outlines the sample, procedures, and analytical strategy used to collect and analyze the

quantitative and qualitative data. The results present the findings for the three research

questions that investigate encounter dynamics, factors affecting discretion, and procedural