A Community-engaged Qualitative Study of Police Response to 911 Calls for Behavioral Health Crises

Americans in a mental health or substance abuse crisis who call 911 for assistance are at increased risk for police violence. With the growing recognition that police are not trained behavioral health (BH) workers, cities across the country are searching for alternatives models of response to these 911 calls.

To 1) describe community perceptions of 911 response to BH crisis calls, 2) explore community preferences for non-police models of response, and 3) engage a community advisory board in all study activities.

Using a community-based participatory research approach, during 2023 in Columbus, Ohio we conducted 30 semi-structured interviews that were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed via qualitative methods.

Four key themes emerged: 1) variation in responding officer demeanor across calls within the same neighborhood and even to the same address: "a different cop can make all the difference"; 2) a pervasive reluctance to call the police during BH crises; 3) need for increased training in BH disorders and de-escalation; and 4) strong support for a non-police response program-"medics for mental health."

As one of the first studies to explore community member perspectives on this issue, interviewees shared a preference for a non-police response program and made specific recommendations for its structure. Although non-police response models have proliferated across the country, there is a need to engage the community in model development and impact studies using the methods of community-based participatory research.