Patrol Officers Have Three Main Functions: Deterring Crime, Providing a Sense

Patrol officers have three main functions: deterring crime, providing a sense of public security, and maintaining 24-hour availability to the public. Reduced services for the mentally ill in the last few decades in the United States have led to increased contacts between people with mental illness and patrol officers. The Crisis Intervention Team, or CIT, tries to improve safety during these encounters by arming officers with de-escalation techniques. The co-responder model partners officers with mental health professionals on calls for service to connect people with mental illness with community based treatment. The Response Planning and De-escalation and Referral, or RADAR, program identifies individuals at risk for future contacts and encourages voluntary sharing of information during a non-crisis time.
This scenario focuses on the duties of patrol officers and how alternate strategies might be employed toward reducing crime and increasing public safety.
A recent summit of all law enforcement leaders in Polk County, Florida was filled with discussion about how to address the rising numbers of inmates with mental illness passing through and residing in the county jail. As part of the summit, leaders attended several workshops on specialized policing responses to the mentally ill. These approaches stress community alternatives to incarceration and thus would help reduce jail populations. The two most promising approaches were the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) and the co-responder model. The takeaway from the summit was a directive for law enforcement leaders to present these two approaches to their home departments and obtain quantitative and qualitative data on which one of the practices was most well received and which was not. Once all leaders bring their data back to the group, decisions will be made for the whole county on possibly updating the methods for patrol to handle calls dealing with people with mental illnesses.
-Which of the following types of patrol will be most affected by new approaches to dealing with people with mental illnesses?

A) random routine patrol
B) bike patrol
C) retroactive investigation
D) foot patrol

Correct Answer:

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