The Effectiveness of Training Police to Answer Mental Health Calls - The BETA Project

Abstract Information: In recent years, there has been increased scrutiny of police interactions as they answer routine calls with members of the public. One focus of the increased attention has centered on how the police respond to people with mental illness. Research has shown that compared to people without mental illness, those with serious mental illness are 11.6 times as likely to experience use of police force (Laniyonu & Goff, 2021). In part, the increased likelihood of the use of force may be exacerbated by police who do not have the training to identify and respond effectively to people experiencing mental health symptoms. Communities across the country have responded to this concern by implementing both standardized training programs, such as the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program, as well as programs tailored to the specific needs of individual communities. In Nebraska, the Lincoln Police Department in collaboration with Region V Behavioral Health Systems has developed its own training package over the last decade to address this problem. The Behavioral Threat Assessment (BETA) is a four-day long training session that provides generic mental health training incorporating local information and procedures to educate officers on best practices to answer mental health calls. In this presentation, we discuss the results of an evaluation of the effectiveness of BETA training on improving attitudes toward serving community members with mental illness, as well as increasing knowledge about best practices to aid those with mental illness. Participants in the program and a comparison group of officers that did not participate completed identical quantitative pre and posttests developed by the CIT group to assess attitudes toward serving residents with mental illness symptoms and a survey developed by the evaluation team to test knowledge of best practices. Both a mixed model (within time and between groups) ANOVA and an ANCOVA with an identical pretest as a covariate supported the strength of the BETA training. After attending the session, BETA participants significantly improved their attitudes toward working with persons with mental illness, while the comparison group did not. These quasi-experimental results showed that the BETA training had a positive impact on police officers’ attitudes towards dealing with individuals showing mental health symptoms. Furthermore, regarding knowledge gained about individuals with mental illness and best practices, those who attended the program again significantly increased their knowledge compared to the comparison group. Finally, and most importantly, a mediation analysis using Haye’s (2021) Process model showed that the effect of training on increasing knowledge of best practices mediated the increase in positive attitudes toward serving those with mental illness that resulted from training. These findings highlight that BETA training does positively impact the attendees’ attitudes and knowledge about how to interact with and aid people experiencing mental health symptoms. To help alleviate the disparate rates of negative police interactions with mentally ill individuals, it is vital to ascertain if ongoing police trainings are successful in altering attitudes, knowledge, and behavior. This work emphasizes how the vital partnership between evaluators and public organizations ensures successful trainings.