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City Police Provide Security Services at a State Mental Hospital

NCJ Number
126590
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 57 Issue: 10 Dated: (October 1990) Pages: 92,96-97
Author(s)
D T Anderson; R Hanson
Date Published
1990
Length
3 pages
Annotation
The cooperative effort between the Anoka (Minnesota) Police Department and the local State-operated mental treatment facility to provide hospital security is presented as a very successful but highly controversial approach to the problem of the conflict between law enforcement and mental health practitioners in the management of deviant behavior.
Abstract
The first private security service was hired in 1975 for the Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment Center after a nearby citizen was attacked by a patient who just walked off the grounds. Over the years, the various private security firms have had various problems or complaints leveled against them. Therefore, a cooperative effort with the local police department was planned in order to provide better quality of service. The positive results of the two evaluations done during the first year are presented. The unit at the facility is staffed by uniformed, nonsworn police employees, who, working in a part-time capacity, provide security and law enforcement services to the facility on a 24-hour basis. The many mutual benefits listed include the officers receiving training and practical experience interacting with mental patients, the facility receiving professional, legitimate safety and security service, and the taxpayers receiving enhanced confidence in their law enforcement agency and State-provided mental health services. 5 notes