Benefits and Drawbacks of Police Integration Into Assertive Community Treatment Teams

Assertive community treatment (ACT) teams provide outreach services to individuals coping with severe mental illness. Because such individuals are at increased risk for involvement with law enforcement, a model that integrates police officers into ACT teams (ACT-PI) was developed for ACT teams serving clients with or without forensic involvement. The goal of this study, conducted in British Columbia, was to evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of the ACT-PI model.

Qualitative semistructured interviews were conducted with 21 ACT-PI clients (in 2017) and 22 ACT-PI staff (in 2018). Thematic analyses identified key themes related to the benefits and drawbacks of officer integration into the ACT-PI model.

Perceived benefits of police integration were opportunities for relationship building between officers and clients, improved safety, more holistic care due to embeddedness (i.e., effective interagency collaboration between police and health care providers), the prevention of future problems, and police officers' authority enhancing compliance. Perceived drawbacks included risk for legal consequences, stigma from police interaction, escalating distress of clients, low officer availability, and the risk for changing the nature of ACT teams.

Participants reported that the model of officer integration into ACT-PI teams may improve both client and staff well-being. In some communities, and with certain precautions, ACT-PI may be a viable model for ACT teams serving clients with and clients without a history of forensic involvement.