Mental Health Crisis Is a Social Problem, Not a Police Problem

In a POLICE-exclusive interview, Robert Harris, a member of the Los Angeles Police Protective League board of directors, discusses with POLICE Contributing Web Editor Doug Wyllie the problems with making police act as the front-line problem solvers for the mental health crisis.

When law enforcement officers arrive at a scene with an individual in crisis, they treat the matter as a police matter because they are not psychologists or mental health professionals. Harris says that there are better ways to address the issue.