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Family Intervention Police Teams as a Community Mental Health Resource

NCJ Number
76700
Journal
JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW, CRIMINOLOGY AND POLICE SCIENCE Volume: 60 Issue: 2 Dated: (1969) Pages: 247-250
Author(s)
M Bard
Date Published
1969
Length
4 pages
Annotation
A program is described in which an academic institution collaborates with local police in an urban area and develops a model of training police as specialists in family crisis intervention.
Abstract
A total of 18 patrolmen (9 black and 9 white) were selected from a command of about 650 men after brief interviews to determine their motivation and stability. Six men of the unit were assigned each tour of duty; two of these six were expected to be available to man the Family Crisis Car. The program was supported by the New York City Police Department and LEAA. Intensive training was given during the initial month, followed by weekly inservice training sessions. During the training, the patrolmen were told that they would enhance their performance but would retain their basic identities as police officers. Since the trained officers would be more involved in highly hazardous work, one of the program effectiveness criteria was the number of injuries officers sustained when intervening. After the first year of operation, none of the officers sustained an injury. In a neighboring precinct, with fewer cases and with the work distributed among 250 officers, there were five reported instances of injury to police responding to a family conflict. A marked improvement in the community's attitude toward the police was also noted. Furthermore, the program made it possible for police officers to be compassionate without experiencing ego-threat. As a result, other officers have asked to learn the techniques of marital conflict resolution. The program demonstrates the advantages of collaboration between the psychological community and the police. Further, the model of training police which evolved here could be more widely applied. Footnotes are included.

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