Mental health in austere times: The increasing role of police intervention in cases of mental distress in the UK

2016年，警务学院院长表示，警方正在越来越多地介入其他机构以前为街头心理健康危机提供支持的领域。然而，人们对警察对精神健康问题的反应知之甚少，特别是对警察干预在多大程度上导致了第136条拘留1所知甚少。2016年，警务学院发布了《授权专业实践指南》（APP），指出有效的警察应对心理健康问题需要一种合作方式，但很少有人分析APP是如何在英格兰西北部的实践中发挥作用的，以及它在多大程度上改善了寻求避免逮捕和减少拘留的地方安排。警务学院承认，应对心理健康是警察服务的核心业务，但也表示，由于各地资金和委托安排的差异，对全国各地的具体挑战知之甚少。当地需要强大的本地情报来实现实践改进，但通常情况下，由于一线从业人员的需求和分析服务的削减，当地数据未得到充分利用。作为加强N8警务合作伙伴关系研究能力的共同努力的一部分，该项目将设在兰开夏郡警察局，该警察局正在建立一个博士生单位，为学生提供同伴支持和知识交流的独特机会。在对日益增多的精神卫生拘留进行全国审查的背景下，这个项目是及时的。在过去的十年里，尽管心理健康政策强调减少入院人数，但拘留人数上升了47%。在兰开夏郡，因精神疾病被拘留的人数达到了历史最高水平，这促使人们对街头分流进行投资，从而大大减少了拘留和急诊室就诊的人数。此外，这也是ESRC的优先资助事项，ESRC指出了一系列影响心理健康的社会、经济和制度因素。迄今为止，拘留率上升的动力，包括社区服务的削减，贫困和无家可归者的增加，以及批准的精神卫生从业人员（AMHPs）数量的减少，人们知之甚少。

In 2016, the head of the College of Policing stated that the police are increasingly stepping in whereother agencies would have previously provided support for the crisis of mental health on the streets.However, little is known about the police response to mental health, and particularly to what extentpolice intervention contributes to numbers of S.136 detentions1. In 2016, the College of Policingpublished the Authorized Professional Practice (APP) guidance2, stating that an effective policeresponse to mental health requires a partnership approach, but there has been little analysis of howAPP is embedded in practice in the Northwest of England, and the extent to which it has improvedlocal arrangements that seek to avert arrest and reduce detention.The College of Policing acknowledges that responding to mental health is core business for the policeservice, but has also stated that little is known about particular challenges across the country givendifferences in local area funding and commissioning arrangements3. Local areas require robust localintelligence to enable practice improvement, but typically, local area data is under-exploited givendemands on frontline practitioners and cuts to analytic services. As part of a concerted effort toenhance research capability within the N8 policing partnership, this project will be located inLancashire police services, which is building a doctoral student unit offering unique opportunity forpeer support and knowledge exchange for students.This project is timely in the context of a national review of rising mental health detentions4. Over thepast decade, detentions have risen by 47%, despite an emphasis within mental health policy onreducing admissions. In Lancashire, mental health detentions were at an all-time high, promptinginvestment in a street triage that saw dramatic reduction in both detentions and A&E visits5.Additionally, this is an ESRC funding priority, with the ESRC stating a range of social, economic andsystem factors influence mental health. To date, the dynamics of rising detention rates whichcomprise cuts to community services, rising poverty and homelessness, together with a reduction inthe number of Approved Mental Health Practitioners (AMHPs)6 are poorly understood.