Developing Community Co-designed Scenario-Based Training for Police Mental Health Crisis Response: a Relational Policing Approach to De-escalation

• Published in: Journal of police and criminal psychology Vol. 37; no. 3; pp. 587 - 601
• Main Authors: Lavoie, Jennifer A. A., Alvarez, Natalie, Kandil, Yasmine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-09-2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Behavioral Science and Psychology; Compliance; Conceptual development; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Crisis intervention; Curricula; De-escalation; Experiential learning; Experts; Fidelity; Health services; Law and Psychology; Law enforcement; Literature reviews; Management of crises; Mental disorders; Mental health; Mental health care; Police; Policing; Procedural justice; Professional training; Psychology; Public safety; Stress; Training; Partnership; Police; Mental health; Relational policing; Crisis
• ISSN: 0882-0783; 1936-6469
• DOI: 10.1007/s11896-022-09500-2

Using the current empirical landscape of police responses to people in mental health crisis as a backdrop, this methods paper makes an argument for the central role of collaborative co-design and production by diverse community experts and stakeholders to build transformative specialized training for frontline officers. Subject matter experts (SMEs) from across key domains participated in focus groups and curriculum creation, with outputs being the co-development of a conceptual approach and an innovative experiential learning training program. Part 1 unpacks the team’s conceptual development of a
relational policing approach
. This humanized method is shaped by procedural justice, trauma-informed, person-centred, and cultural safety frameworks. Part 2 details the co-production of a novel problem-based training method for a police service in Southern Ontario, Canada. The program centres on the acquisition of core competencies related to relational policing, de-escalation, and mental health crisis response. The training was designed to bring learners through a spectrum of authentic crisis scenarios: from observer-participant scenarios informed by Forum Theatre methods and targeted SME feedback to a range of high-fidelity assessment simulations that test officers’ abilities to effectively communicate, de-escalate, and make decisions under stress. This program offers repeated opportunities for officers to practice alternative crisis management strategies in scenarios that might otherwise result in the use of force.