LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT
CONSENT DECREE MENTAL ILLNESS PROJECT

Final Report
May 28, 2002

CITY OF LOS ANGELES
(LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT)

Lodestar
Lodestar Management/Research, Inc
315 W. Ninth Street, Suite 401
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 891-1113
FAX (213) 891-0055
Lodestar@lmresearch.com

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CONTENTS

Executive Summary

2

Introduction

7

Methods

10

Targeted Review of Best Practices

13

Review of Pertinent LAPD Operations

24

Review of Training, Policies and Procedures

26

Conclusions and Recommendations

29

Costs and Benefits of Recommendations

48

Appendices

(under separate cover)

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction and Methods
In June 2001, the City of Los Angeles entered into a Consent Decree with the Department of
Justice, to “promote police integrity and prevent conduct that deprives persons of rights,
privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.”
The Consent Decree requires an evaluation of LAPD’s current policies, procedures and
practices related to police encounters with persons who may have a mental illness and a search
for successful program models in other law enforcement agencies. The LAPD selected
Lodestar Management/Research, Inc. to complete the evaluation over an approximately five
month period beginning in mid-December 2001. This document is the final report of the
evaluation.
A variety of research and analytical methods was used in the study. Documents received by
Lodestar from various units of LAPD were reviewed for elements of trainings, policies and
procedures relevant to persons with a mental illness. Other research activities included: a review
of literature related to mental health and law enforcement; site visits and intensive study of police
departments with exemplary programs (Memphis, TX; New York City, NY; Portland, OR; San
Diego, CA; and Seattle, WA); observation of recruit training; survey of patrol officers; incident
reviews; interviews with key informants and community stakeholders; and reviews by content
specialists external to LAPD.

Targeted Review of Best Practices
The literature review and targeted study of the five cities point to four general practices that are
considered to be essential to the success of these specialized programs:
•

Community Partnerships
Partnerships created between community agencies and the police department promote a joint
problem-solving rather than an uncoordinated or adversarial approach. Successful programs
have active, ongoing collaboration with community agencies and the local mental health
authority to ensure that the community’s concerns are addressed and to create a forum for the
exchange of information. This requires regular meetings, good working relationships, ready
disclosure of information, the personal involvement of police command staff and high-level
personnel of other agencies, and a joint commitment to maintaining preventive systems.

•

Specialized Training
Programs report that there has been a reduction in the use of force and police injuries as a
result of specialized training. This ultimately improves public perceptions and reduces the
police department’s liability risk. Specialized training includes increased attention to the
topic of mental illness for basic recruits, elaboration and reiteration at roll calls, and annual
in-service updates for all officers. Training methods incorporate problem-based strategies
that provide officers with skills to be safe and more effective in handling mental crisis calls.
Protocols include communication skills, verbal de-escalation, assessment, triage and
disposition. Constructive attitudes are successfully reinforced by having mental health
consumers and family members involved in the planning and delivery of the training.

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•

Increased Accountability
Departments that institute successful specialized programs are continually assessing their
value. In most programs, evaluations are conducted not only of program operations but of
program effectiveness as well. The information derived from these evaluations, in turn,
helps to refine policies, training and other systems to improve program effectiveness.

•

Proactive Approach
Successful police departments have taken leadership roles to address the needs of persons
with mental illness in crisis, as well as officer safety. This includes actively reaching out to
the community for help in developing innovative programs. This proactive approach
requires a critical internal self-analysis of the department’s training, policies and procedures,
an aggressive search for resources, and a strong commitment to improve current systems.

LAPD Practices
LAPD currently operates several specialized approaches to encounters with persons who may
have a mental illness. There are three specific units, two of which (SMART and MEU) have an
existing collaborative relationship whereas the third (CIT), a pilot program implemented in spring
2001, operates in isolation of the others.
System wide Mental Assessment Response Team (SMART)
SMART is a pairing of a LAPD officer and Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health
(DMH) clinician that is used by the LAPD to evaluate persons in mental crisis in order to ensure
the most appropriate referral. The county mental health agency provides the financial support for
clinicians and access to County mental health records. This access facilitates the evaluation of
the subject by the police officer and clinician. A supervisor within the police department provides
support to the SMART officers, actively collaborates with DMH and leads the SMART program.
The geography of Los Angeles poses a great challenge for SMART. Currently, SMART is
staffed with 10 units. This number of units is unable to provide 24-hour coverage 7 days a week
to patrol officers across 466 square miles and 18 divisions.
Mental Evaluation Unit (MEU)
Patrol contacts MEU if the officer identifies a need for a SMART unit. MEU dispatches a SMART
unit if there is one available. In addition, MEU serves as the repository for involuntary psychiatric
hold (5150 WIC) paperwork completed by LAPD officers. Per policy, patrol officers are to notify
MEU when a 5150 hold is placed on a subject. In addition, SWAT and Crisis Negotiations Team
rely on MEU to provide information about previous contacts involving a person who has a mental
illness and has been placed on a 5150 WIC or had a SMART unit referred.
Although MEU is a data repository, current systems lack the sophistication to accurately monitor
police contacts with persons with a mental illness. In addition, MEU staff members are not
specially trained to handle encounters with persons who may have a mental illness.
Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Pilot Program
The CIT program has provided 40-hour training to a cadre of generalist-specialists who are
available as first responder patrol officers in the Central Area. Preliminary evidence of the CIT
Program indicates less frequent use of force and fewer officer injuries. CIT training curriculum
is outstanding and makes improvements on the training offered in other model CIT programs. A
few service providers as well as persons with a mental illness (consumers) from the local

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community within the pilot area were included in the development of the program. This is an
important and essential aspect of CIT programs nationwide.
However, it should be noted that the current CIT pilot program functions in isolation of other LAPD
programs. There is no cross training with other units such as SMART or MEU, nor is there any
involvement on the part of LAPD’s Training Division or Behavioral Sciences. Due to a quick startup, there are limited community partnerships as well as limited consumer/advocacy input.

Review of Training, Policies and Procedures
Training methods are as important as the content of the curriculum. The recommended quantity
of mental health material is likely to exceed the current time available for training. A long-range
plan and strategy for addressing issues around mental illness is needed in the context of the
total training package. General LAPD training on issues related to mental illness is not
contingent on developing training for special projects or specialized personnel such as in a CIT
model. Although the benefits of specialized training are strong, it is important that training for all
officers is seen as a priority of the LAPD.
Other issues related to training surfaced during the course of the evaluation:
•

Development of the training package is best accomplished by an internal planning
committee, with input from community stakeholders. This can enhance public
relations as well as help focus the training package on local concerns. Persons with
expertise in developing curricula in mental health for law enforcement should be
considered for inclusion in the committee. Curricula and instruction can benefit from
including mental health professionals, community providers, persons with a mental
illness and their family members.

•

Basic recruit training generally centers on competency training more than
practical problem solving. The use of videos, role-play or other simulation can include
encounters with persons with mental illnesses or general emotional disturbances. These
experiential approaches are much more likely to result in improved problem solving on
the street.

•

Field Training Officers further train new officers and require specialize training. This
on-the-job mentoring can be very valuable but is only as valuable as the skills, knowledge
and attitudes of the Field Training Officer. It is therefore essential that FTOs receive
specialized instruction and experience in issues of mental illness.

•

Updates and ongoing presentation of key issues are important on a continual
basis. Annual refresher courses are appropriate. This can be supplemented by a
planned dissemination of training material through bulletins, newsletters, and roll call
training. The development of a long-range strategy for all personnel to receive training
on this topic over the course of their career would avoid the perceived hit-and-miss of
current training activities.

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Recommendations
Effectively reducing the potential for violence in encounters between LAPD officers and persons
with a mental illness will require changes in the department’s approach to these encounters.
Changes in systems and practices will demonstrate to the Los Angeles community and internal
stakeholders that the LAPD is committed to being responsive to the needs of these encounters.
Organizational Priorities and Planning
•

Identify and prioritize Lodestar recommendations to be adopted; develop a detailed
and long-range implementation plan (including budget and timeline) that addresses
police encounters with individuals who may have a mental illness.

•

Develop a department-wide statement of philosophy about handling encounters that
involve a person with a mental illness. Change language in written policies and
training. Both of these actions will promote, and illustrate, the Department’s commitment to
addressing these issues in an effective and sensitive manner.

•

Develop specialized community partnerships. Further develop and maintain for these
special purposes partnerships between the LAPD and relevant city-wide and community
groups, including the local mental health services authority.

Organizational Infrastructure
•

Centralize authority for all LAPD specialized response programs for persons with a
mental illness under the auspices of a single entity. Assign a dedicated lead officer
to serve as Coordinator. For the purpose of this report, this suggested coordinating entity
– and overall rubric for specialized response – will be referred to as the Crisis Assessment
and Intervention Team (CAIT) 1.

•

Document CAIT calls with an incident log. Manage these data as well as information
about all mental crises encounters in a single, integrated database.

•

Review administrative procedures, including current policies and procedures for
involuntary psychiatric holds, and the Memorandum of Understanding between LAPD and
DMH regarding the use of confidential material.

Mental Crisis Encounters
•

Prioritize the use of specialized response as first responders to calls involving
persons with a mental illness. To do this, increase the number of first responding
officers with expertise in handling encounters with persons in mental crisis.

•

Develop a system to locate CAIT officers and dispatch them.

1

Thus, SMART teams would be referred to as CAIT-DMH teams, MEU personnel would now be CAIT
personnel, and officers currently identified as CIT would be identified as CAIT officers.

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•

Expand co-responding CAIT-DMH (currently SMART) teams to provide 24-hour daily
coverage. Incorporate functions currently handled by MEU as part of this expanded
CAIT.

•

Educate field patrol officers about specialized responses and departmental
philosophy.

Curricula and Training
•

Provide consistent and mandatory training for all CAIT officers. Integrate and provide
all training for specialized responders under the direction of the CAIT. CAIT should
assume agency-wide leadership for developing, monitoring and updating curricula and
training related to police responses to persons with a mental illness.

•

Include additional information on community supports as well as consumer, family
and advocate perspectives in CAIT training. Expand external and internal expertise
used in developing new curricula and instruction. Utilize external subject matter
experts, coordinated through the Professional Advisory Committee, to plan new curricula.
Use existing resources within the Department to assist in the development and instruction of
training material. Supplement current instructors with persons who have experience with
encounters with persons with a mental illness.

•

Include Communications Division in the development of curriculum, policies and
procedures for a specialized response to persons with a mental illness. In addition,
enhance Communications training to facilitate better initial identification of calls
involving persons in mental crisis.

•

Design mental crisis training that focuses on practical encounters and utilizes a wide
range of field tactics. Emphasize tactics that may differ when encountering an individual
with a mental illness. Use more problem-based material during training.

•

Conduct initial agency-wide training for all patrol officers on special techniques and
considerations for managing encounters involving a person with a mental illness.

•

Increase emphasis in basic recruit training on encounters with persons with a mental
illness. In addition, integrate verbal de-escalation techniques into use of force training.

Use of Force
•

Re-structure Categorical Use of Force documentation. The revised form should require
a detailed account of the approach and early features of the encounter, including the verbal
interaction between officer and subject.

•

Review the LAPD’s Non-Categorical Use of Force reports involving police encounters
with individuals in mental crises to further inform training (including recruit and
continuing education training as well as tactical training.) A study of these incidents
may provide specific information and insight as to effective means of limiting force in these
police encounters. Identifying situations and tactics used by field officers to de-escalate
potentially lethal force would allow trainers to teach these skills and replicate actual
encounters in their scenario trainings.

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INTRODUCTION
“Like it or not, police officers will continue to be called upon to respond to
situations involving mentally ill individuals in the community. Policing
techniques that involve forceful or intimidating confrontation may serve
only to exacerbate such encounters.”

- Kenneth L. Appelbaum, 2000, pg. 3252

The need to de-escalate potentially violent encounters with persons who may have a mental
illness is a concern of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and police departments
throughout the United States. This concern has lead to the development of a variety of police
and community responses. This report presents conclusions and recommendations from a
comprehensive study of those responses at LAPD and other law enforcement departments.
On June 15, 2001, the City of Los Angeles entered into a Consent Decree with the Department
of Justice, to “promote police integrity and prevent conduct that deprives persons of rights,
privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.”
Paragraphs 111 and 112 of the Consent Decree require an evaluation of LAPD’s current
policies, procedures and practices around police encounters with persons who may have a
mental illness and a search for successful programs in other law enforcement agencies. As a
result, the LAPD chose to select an outside evaluator through a Request for Proposal (RFP)
process (RFP No. 01-200-008). Lodestar Management/Research Inc. (Lodestar) was selected
to complete the evaluation over an approximately five month period beginning in mid-December
2001.
Based on requirements set forth in the RFP, Lodestar developed a strategy to examine the
LAPD response to encounters that involve persons with a mental illness in the context of best
practices discovered through a review of relevant literature and visits to police departments
around the country that have exemplary programs.

Study Background
Law enforcement agencies report experiencing an increasing number of encounters with
persons who may have mental illness, from relatively routine situations to those that involve the
use of force. Increasingly this leads patrol officers to feel that they have taken on roles of “beat
cop psychiatrists” or neighborhood social workers. Communities throughout the United States
have developed a diversity of approaches to responding to persons with mental illness.
Regardless of the programs and tactics adopted by individual police departments, developing
appropriate and effective approaches to responding to persons with a mental illness in crisis is
viewed as an important collaboration among law enforcement agencies, local mental health
authorities, community services and the advocacy community.
Police encounters with individuals who have a mental illness are a routine aspect of law
enforcement. In order to understand the challenges facing police, it is important to acquire an
2

Appelbaum, K.L. (2000). Police encounters with persons with mental illness: Introduction, Journal of the
American Academy of Psychiatry and Law, 28, pp.325.

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understanding of the general context within which this issue resides. For example, previous studies
have shown:
•

California Sheriffs report that 9 percent of emergency calls involved individuals and
incidents dealing with mental illness.3

•

Major police departments across the country estimate that seven percent of all their
police contacts involve people with mental illness in crisis (Deane, et al., 1998) 4

•

In a survey of over 450 police officers in three U.S. cities (Birmingham, Knoxville and
Memphis), officers reported responding to an average of six calls involving people
with mental illness in crisis within the past month (Borum, et al., 1998) 5

The systematic examination of the policies, procedures, training and other organizational
elements that surround LAPD interaction with persons who have a mental illness is critical to
both law enforcement and those requiring mental health care. Specifically, an increased
understanding of structures, issues and strategies can potentially:
•

Decrease the likelihood of use of force by police officers;

•

Decrease the likelihood of officer injury;

•

Increase the ability of police to direct individuals to appropriate services;

•

Decrease the chances of a person with a mental illness deteriorating as a result
of separation from mental health treatment and proper medication;

•

Lessen the amount of time spent by law enforcement officers in processing
arrests and testifying in court;

•

Decrease department liability risk; and

•

Diversion from jails to treatment, when appropriate, for those detainees with
criminal behavior resulting from mental health issues.

In order to attain these potential outcomes, some law enforcement agencies have developed
specialized response programs regarding persons who may have a mental illness. This entails
giving law enforcement officers the tools, skills and support necessary to result in the
appropriate dispositions for those encounters where the consumer is in need of mental health
care. This study reviews specialized programs both nationwide and in LAPD. Specifically, this
report examines current tracking, training, policies and procedures of the LAPD that may affect
the effectiveness of their approach to encounters with persons who may have a mental illness in
crisis.

3

Husted, J. R., Charter, R. A., & Perrou, B. (1995). California Law Enforcement Agencies and the
Mentally Ill Offender, Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 23, pp. 315-329.
4
Deane, M., Steadman, H., Borum, R., Veysey, B., & Morrissey, J. (1998). Police-mental health
system interactions: Program types and needed research. Psychiatric Services, 50, pp. 99-101.
5
Borum, R., Deane, M., Steadman, H., & Morrissey, J. (1998). Police perspectives on responding to
mentally ill people in crisis: Perceptions of program effectiveness. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 16,
pp. 393-405.

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Organization of the Report
This report is presented in two volumes. This volume presents overall findings and specific
recommendations. The appendices are under separate cover and provide supporting
documentation, including detailed findings, data collection instruments and protocols, survey
results, literature review and other supporting materials.
The consent decree calls for “an in-depth evaluation of LAPD training, policies, and procedures
for dealing with persons who may be mentally ill.” Because policies and procedures are
relevant and necessary for every department and division in this evaluation, specific policies
and procedures are discussed in each section in the description and critique of those
departments and divisions, rather than as a separate section in this report.
The remainder of this report is organized as follows:
•

Methods;

•

Targeted Review of Best Practices;

•

Review of LAPD Operations;

•

Review of Training;

•

Conclusions and Recommendations, and

•

Costs and Benefits of Recommendations.

Specific appendices are referenced throughout the report.

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METHODS
A variety of research and analytical methods was used for this study. Document reviews,
interviews, observations and surveys were conducted. Documents received by Lodestar from
the various divisions of LAPD were reviewed for elements of trainings, policies and procedures
relevant to persons with a mental illness.
Literature Review
Lodestar reviewed the professional literature in mental health and in criminal justice to search
for innovative and best practice approaches used by police departments to de-escalate
potentially violent encounters with persons with a mental illness and to provide more efficient
disposition. Electronic databases were searched for relevant articles along with a review of
professional literature, media reports, law enforcement trade publications, and supplemented
with secondary analyses of national research surveys, personal contacts with scholars,
practitioners and leaders of existing specialized response programs. Appendix A contains a
detailed summary of the findings of the literature search.
Nationwide Site Visits
During the development of the work plan for this evaluation, Lodestar and LAPD discussed the
process for selecting a diversity of model programs nationwide that address police contacts with
persons who may have a mental illness. Five cities that contained police departments that used
exemplary practices were selected: Memphis, TN; New York City, NY; Portland, OR; San
Diego, CA; and Seattle, WA. Site visits were conducted in four of the five cities, excluding
Portland (see Appendix B for more detail).
Lodestar collected program data from multiple sources for each of the sites visited: document
review, direct observation (e.g., ride-alongs wherever possible) and semi-structured key
informant interviews with program coordinators, police administrators, community mental health
staff and other key community partners. Interview protocols used in a previous study of police
responses to persons with mental illness were modified for the purposes of this study and used
as a guide for observations, interviews and document review. Protocols were semi-structured to
accommodate differing features of each site’s program (see Appendix C).
Curricula and Evaluation Reviews
Curricula reviewed included Systemwide Mental Assessment Response Team (SMART), Basic
Recruit, and the Crisis Intervention Team. Other lesson plans and written training documents
for Communications Division, roll call trainings and continuing education purposes were
reviewed. The evaluations of participants in the Basic Recruit training were analyzed. See
Appendix D for a list of documents reviewed and Appendix L for a review of document
content.
Other Documentation
Documents related to policies and procedures for encounters with persons with a mental illness
were reviewed. These documents include internal memos, planning documents and excerpts
from the LAPD Department Manual. A list of these documents can be found in Appendix E and
document analysis is Appendix L.

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Key Informant Interviews
Interviews were conducted with commanding officers and other staff of various departmental
units over the course of the study. The departmental units include: Training Division (Basic
Recruit Academy, Continuing Education, Tactics Unit); Detective Headquarters Division (Mental
Evaluation Unit, Systemwide Mental Assessment Response Team); Communications Division;
Behavioral Science Services (BSS); and Critical Incident Investigation Division (CIID).
Additionally, a number of representatives from other agencies and units were interviewed,
including Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and LAPD Information Technology
Division.
Observation of Training
Three observations were made of Basic Recruit classes relevant to this project. Two Lodestar
observers attended the presentation of the training materials on the developmental disabilities
section (7 hours of training over two days). Using a coding form, the observers documented
what was presented during this portion of the training. (See Appendix F for a copy of the
Protocols for LAPD Training Evaluation.) Finally, the testing portion of the role plays for recruits
was evaluated by one observer. The role plays observed included a 5150 scenario, a domestic
violence scenario, and a sexual assault scenario. The 5150 scenario was observed by the
evaluator four times with different recruits.
Survey of Patrol Officers
Lodestar developed a written survey for patrol officers to assess their experience and attitudes
about working with those who may have a mental illness. (See Appendix G for a copy of the
Patrol Officer Survey.)
A total of 236 surveys were completed by patrol officers at 12 roll calls in six divisions from
March 11-19, 2002. The divisions (Devonshire, Hollenbeck, Newton, Pacific, Southeast and
West Los Angeles) were selected because of their geographic diversity and the differences in
the number of Welfare Institution Code (WIC) 5150/attempted suicide cases handled on an
annual basis. The surveys were conducted during roll calls of day, AM and PM watches.
The completed surveys were analyzed using SPSS 11.0, a statistical software package widely
used in social science research. Quantitative data were examined using frequencies and crosstabulations. Qualitative data were coded and analyzed for content.
Incident Reviews
Incidents from Communications Division, Mental Evaluation Unit (MEU), Systemwide Mental
Assessment Response Team (SMART) and CIID were reviewed. The Consent Decree required
“reviews of at least 10 incidents since January 1, 1999 in which a person who appeared to be
mentally ill was the subject of a Categorical Use of Force and at least 15 incidents since January
1, 1999 in which the LAPD mental health evaluation unit was contacted.” More detailed
summaries of incident reviews can be found in Appendices H, I, and J.
Interviews with Community Stakeholders
Lodestar interviewed 60 key external stakeholders, which include community mental health
consumers, advocates, service providers and other community members. Interviewees were
recommended by a number of sources including mental health professionals and LAPD staff, and
a comprehensive list of these stakeholders was developed. Lodestar asked about interviewees’

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experience and insight into LAPD’s procedures, training, policies and the recording/tracking of
police encounters with persons with a mental illness.
In addition, Lodestar gathered information regarding interviewees’ experience with other police
departments’ programs and practices and first hand experience with LAPD police encounters.
Interviewees also provided comments about what types of services or referrals LAPD could
provide and other recommendations for improving interactions between LAPD officers and
persons who may have a mental illness. (See Appendix K for the community research
interview results.)
External Reviewers
As a part of its original work plan design, Lodestar established an External Review Team
charged with the task of reviewing project deliverables. Each of the three reviewers selected is
a prominent researcher in the field of law enforcement and mental health. External reviewers
were not engaged in study design or in the collection or analysis of data, and were therefore not
“invested” in those activities and products. Rather, they focused on critiquing the project’s draft
reports in order to improve the quality of information and validity of interpretations and
recommendations.

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TARGETED REVIEW OF BEST PRACTICES
Lodestar reviewed police department practices nationwide both through literature search and
site visits to collect information about best practices for police encounters with persons who may
have a mental illness.6 An in-depth examination of LAPD’s own current best practices regarding
these encounters was also conducted. Based on past research and currently reported best
practices, three models are presented. A detailed summary of the findings of the literature
search, review of other cities, and LAPD’s best practices are contained in Appendices A, B,
and I. A brief summary of the findings is presented below. Recommendations based on these
findings can be found at the end of this volume of the report.

Literature Review
Findings
Over the past decade, law enforcement agencies have been increasingly active in developing
specialized approaches to managing field encounters with persons who may have a mental
illness. The objective of these efforts typically is twofold:
•

To reduce aggression or use of force in the encounter, and

•

To divert cases involving such persons from the criminal justice system, when
appropriate, in order to improve outcomes for the consumer.

While many of the first generation efforts to accomplish these ends met with limited success, the
second generation of specialized approaches is more focused and sophisticated and shows
substantial promise.
Some of the earliest efforts to improve response to persons with mental illness focused almost
exclusively on training. It was initially believed that officers’ difficulty in responding to people
with mental disabilities was primarily due to their negative attitudes and biases arising from
erroneous assumptions and lack of information about mental illness.7&8 Although these early
training efforts did appear to improve officers’ knowledge of mental health issues9 and their
ability to apply this knowledge in identifying and communicating about mental illness,10 attitudes
and performance were more resistant to change. Similarly, early efforts to train officers in crisis
intervention produced indeterminate results. Although many departments have implemented
6

For the purposes of this report, “best practices” is defined as an approach that is considered exemplary
and remarkable by the research and/or law enforcement community. As mentioned previously, no study
has definitively shown one program to consistently perform better than another, though programs have
shown improved public relation, decreases in use of force, and better partnerships with outside agencies.
7
Nunnally, J. C. (1961). Popular conceptions of mental health: Their development and change. New
York: Holt.
8
Lester, D. & Pickett, C. (1978). Attitudes toward mental illness in police officers. Psychological
Reports, 42, pp. 888.
9
Godschalx, S. M. (1984). Effect of a mental health educational program upon police officers, Research
in Nursing and Health, 7, pp. 111-117.
10
Janus, S.S., Bess, B.E., Cadden, J.J., & Greenwald, H. (1980). Training police officers to distinguish
mental illness. American Journal of Psychiatry, 137, pp. 228-229.

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crisis training programs in varying forms, the empirical data on their efficacy has been fairly
equivocal. 11
The second generation of programs shifted strategies. The review of the literature found that
there are various models used to create a specialized response to persons with mental illness in
crisis. Instead of providing brief training for all officers, these new models use specialized
responders for calls involving such persons.12 & 13 One of the key distinctions among these
programs, however, is whether the specialized responders are law enforcement personnel or
mental health professionals. The following is a brief description of the three prominent second
generation approaches:
•

Mental Health-Based Mental Health Responders
In this more traditional model, partnerships or cooperative agreements are developed
between police and local community mental health providers. A mobile mental health
crisis team exists as part of the mental health system and operates independently of the
police department.

•

Law Enforcement-Based Specialized Law Enforcement Responders
The dominant model for the use of specialized law enforcement responders is the Crisis
Intervention Team (CIT) pioneered by the Memphis Police Department. The CIT is a
police department-based program staffed by police officers with special training in
mental health issues. The team operates on a generalist-specialist model, so that CIT
officers provide a specialized response to "mental disturbance" crisis calls in addition to
their regularly assigned patrol duties.

•

Law Enforcement-Based Mental Health Responders
Some law enforcement agencies have experimented with approaches that allow both a
sworn officer and a mental health professional to serve as first responders to mental
health crisis calls. There have been numerous innovative programs following this model
in the cities and counties of San Diego and Los Angeles.

One study compared all three programs in three different cities on arrest rates, response time,
and law enforcement satisfaction.14 Lower rates of arrests and response time with higher levels
of satisfaction were found for the Law Enforcement-Based responses when compared to the
Mental Health-Based response. Though there is some empirical evidence to support the claims
that one type of program has specific advantages over another, it is not clear whether some
programmatic advantages may be related to the particular contextual features of the jurisdiction,
such as a strong emergency mental health infrastructure.
A recent review of three specialized responses in Montgomery County, PA; Memphis, TN; and
Multnomah County, OR suggest that there are five major elements of successful specialized

11

Mulvey, E.P. & Repucci, N.D. (1981). Police crisis intervention training: An empirical investigation.
American Journal of Community Psychology, 9, pp. 527-546.
12
Borum, R., Deane, M. W., Steadman, H. J., & Morrissey, J.P. (1998). Police perspectives on
responding to mentally ill people in crisis: Perceptions of program effectiveness, Behavioral Sciences and
the Law, 16, pp.393-405.
13
Steadman, H. J., Deane, M. W., Borum, R., & Morrissey, J. P. (2000). Comparing outcomes of major
models of police response to mental health emergencies, Psychiatric Services, 51, pp. 645-649.
14
Deane, M.W., Steadman, H.J., Borum, R., Veysey, B.M., & Morrissey, J.P. (1999). Emerging
partnerships between mental health and law enforcement, Psychiatric Services, 50, pp. 99-101.

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responses15. These elements include: (1) a central and single point of entry into the mental
health system; (2) policies and procedures at the receiving psychiatric facility that allow for a
quick transfer of the patient from law enforcement to the facility; (3) laws that support diversion
from arrest and jail towards psychiatric treatment; (4) cross-disciplinary training that includes
both law enforcement and mental health professionals; and (5) linkages to community services
so that officers can link individuals to the appropriate care. All three programs are considered
innovative and exemplary by consumer advocates and other law enforcement agencies;
however, even “effective” programs may not perform equally well in every community. Yet,
without strong empirical evidence of their local viability, law enforcement administrators are
asked to decide whether to implement a specialized response program, and if so, which one to
choose.
A review of the literature suggests that there is not one best approach. Individual law
enforcement agencies need to consider the strengths and limitations of their own jurisdictions to
determine an appropriate program. Recommendations generated for the LAPD are based on a
review of strengths and limitations of existing departmental policies, procedures, and training.

Review of Other Cities’ Best Practices
Three types of core organizational units were found in programs that deal directly with police
responses to persons who may be mentally ill: Crisis Intervention Teams, Psychiatric
Emergency Response Teams and Emergency Services Units. The adoption by LAPD of
successful practices found in any of these units in other police departments is not always
straightforward. In many instances – due to significant differences between jurisdictions – a
transfer of a program’s philosophy, policies or procedures may be infeasible or undesirable.
This section examines current programs in five comparison study cities and identifies elements
of successful practice that are integral to making these types of units effective in their own
jurisdictions.

Crisis Intervention Team (Memphis, Portland, Seattle)
•

Strong mental health infrastructure
A successful Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) requires that a strong and supportive
mental health system be in place. A critical piece that makes this unit so effective is
the ability of police officers to take a person into protective custody and quickly
transport them to a psychiatric facility that will immediately respond. This results in a
reduction of out of service time for the officer. The CIT may fail to have good results
if the mental health system does not agree on a central point of intake.

•

Financial and system assistance from local mental health agency
An adequately funded central receiving facility is essential, or at least one that has a
staffed and locked unit for those persons in protective custody under a psychiatric
hold. The mental health authority typically funds the psychiatric receiving facilities in
cities that adopt the CIT program.

15

Steadman, H.J., Stainbrook, K.A., Griffin, P., Draine, J., Dupont, R., & Horey, C.H. (2001). A
specialized crisis response site as a core element of police-based diversion programs, Psychiatric
Services, 52, pp. 219-222.

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•

Agency support
An agency’s highest authority must actively support any major change in policies and
procedures, particularly changes that affect operations across departmental units.
Clear policies and procedures and their effective implementation are essential
regarding departmental interface with CIT, including those with Communications,
S.W.A.T. and Hostage Negotiations Team.

•

Officer and supervisor and buy-in
In the CIT programs reviewed, Coordinators and supporters emphasized that a new
CIT program must have support by officers as well as supervisors. The success of
CIT is contingent on the CIT officer being made available for calls involving persons
who may be mentally ill and the understanding by shift supervisor of their role.

•

Community stakeholder support
An essential element in creating and maintaining a CIT program is the involvement of
various community stakeholders including consumer advocates, family members,
and behavioral healthcare providers. Representatives of local government, court
systems, and community and business leaders are also involved in successful CITs.

Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (San Diego County)
•

Strong relationship with the community
On-going support by the local NAMI chapter is found to be an important component
of San Diego’s reported success with their PERT program. The police department
has made a commitment to communicate actively with the community about PERT
functions and incidents as necessary.

•

Financial and system assistance from local mental health authority
The County mental health agency provides the financial support for clinicians as well
as access to County mental health records in a portable lap top for clinicians. This
facilitates the evaluation of the subject by the police officer and clinician. In addition,
the central receiving facility provided by the County allows the officer to provide quick
referral to mental health services for those persons in need.

•

Leadership and dedication
The PERT program was started and continues to be strongly led by someone within
the police department who is in the position to ensure adequate support to the PERT
officers. PERT officers are also dedicated to the program and are proud of their
work with persons with mental illness in crisis.

•

Agency support
SPD provides PERT with the administrative support necessary to run the program
effectively. This support is in the form of established policies and procedures that
enable communications across jurisdictions to interface with PERT when needed.

•

Incorporation as an independent entity
The establishment of an independent corporation, PERT, Inc. provides the police
department with a board of directors that integrates community members, advocates,
law enforcement and mental health representatives. This natural stakeholders group
provides guidance and structure to the program not only in the city but county-wide.

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Emergency Services Unit (New York City)
•

Extensive tactical training
The strength of the Emergency Services Unit (ESU) lies in the large number of
tactics available to it. The extensive tactical training specific to dealing with persons
who may be mentally ill results in adept and highly skilled officers prepared to handle
high risk encounters.

•

Continued financial support from the police department
The ESU is an expensive program. Commitment to providing training and equipment
has meant a financial commitment that extends beyond initial start-up to ongoing
maintenance and the acquisition of more advanced equipment as it is available.

•

Inter-departmental support
The pride of ESU officers and trainers speaks to their dedication to handle any high
risk encounter. Their willingness to develop new and innovative ideas for equipment
and tactics reflects the support of their program internally. Support and financing
allow an ESU to plan and be patient in its approach.

Common Elements of Successful Practices
The literature review and targeted study of the five cities point to four general practices that are
considered to be essential to the success of specialized programs: having a strong community
partnership; conducting appropriate specialized training; having a high level of program
accountability; and taking a leadership role in instituting reform in this area. These practices are
found across the three organizational units discussed above.
•

Community Partnerships
Partnerships created between community agencies and the police department
promote a joint problem-solving rather than an uncoordinated or adversarial
approach. Successful programs have active, ongoing collaboration with agencies
such as NAMI and the local mental health authority to ensure that the community’s
concerns are addressed and to create a forum for the exchange of information. This
requires regular meetings, good working relationships, ready disclosure of
information, the personal involvement of police command staff and high-level
personnel of other agencies, and a joint commitment to maintaining preventive
systems. Contact between partners occurs regularly, not only in and around a crisis.

•

Specialized Training
Programs report that there has been a reduction in the use of force and police
injuries as a result of specialized training. This ultimately improves public
perceptions and reduces the police department’s liability risk. Specialized training
includes increased attention to the topic of mental illness for basic recruits,
elaboration and reiteration at roll calls, and annual in-service updates for all officers.
Training methods are based on adult learning principles that use problem based
strategies. The emphases are on providing the officer with skills to be safe and more
effective and efficient in handling calls involving persons with a mental illness.
Protocols include communication skills, verbal de-escalation, assessment, triage,
and disposition. Constructive attitudes are successfully reinforced by having mental

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health consumers and family members involved in the planning and delivery of the
training.
•

Increased Accountability
Departments that institute successful specialized programs are continually assessing
their value. In most programs, evaluations are conducted not only of program
operations but of program effectiveness as well. The information derived from these
evaluations, in turn, helps to refine policies, training and other systems to improve
program effectiveness.

•

Proactive Approach
Successful police departments have taken leadership roles to address the needs of
persons with mental illness in crisis, as well as officer safety. This includes actively
reaching out to the community for help in developing innovative programs. This
proactive approach requires a critical internal self-analysis of the department’s
training, policies and procedures, an aggressive search for resources, and a strong
commitment to improve current systems.

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Review of LAPD’s Best Practices
As mentioned earlier, it is imperative to understand the parameters of any jurisdiction before the
development of a specialized program. LAPD currently operates several specialized
approaches to encounters with persons who may have a mental illness. There are three
specific units, two of which have a collaborative relationship whereas the third, a pilot program
implemented in spring 2001, operates in isolation of the others. Findings are presented below
along with areas of need identified through the review of other cities’ best practices. A more
detailed discussion of findings is presented later in this report. Based on the findings,
recommendations are offered at the end of this report.

Mental Evaluation Unit (MEU) and
Systemwide Mental Assessment Response Team (SMART)
The Detective Headquarters Division houses two specialized response programs for dealing
with calls involving persons who are suspected of having a mental illness – the Mental
Evaluation Unit (MEU) and Systemwide Mental Assessment Response Team (SMART).
MEU’s main purpose is to provide consultation for patrol officers and others (e.g. SWAT) when
they encounter situations that involve persons who may be mentally ill. Like the 911 emergency
reporting system, calls come from many sources.
The vast majority of calls come from patrol officers who are instructed to call the MEU when
dealing with a person who may be mentally ill. MEU provides consultation to the officer and if
necessary, will dispatch the SMART unit for an on-scene specialized response.
SMART is a pairing of a LAPD officer and Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health
(DMH) clinician that is used by the LAPD to evaluate persons with a mental illness to provide
the most appropriate referral. Calls to SMART come from a variety of sources including the
community, DMH, schools, other agencies, and the Psychiatric Mobile Response Team
(PMRT). The SMART triage counselor receives these calls. The triage counselor is a mental
health employee who can check the DMH’s computerized database to determine if the person in
need has a mental health history with the DMH. If the triage counselor believes the call requires
SMART, MEU is contacted and a request is made. In other words, if SMART triage and not
police receives a call, the call is routed to MEU. If the call originated from patrol, MEU is
contacted directly. MEU determines if a SMART unit is to be dispatched.
SMART units are often in the field listening to radio calls. If a call identified as involving a
person who may be in a mental health crisis (918) is heard, the SMART officer will consult with
MEU officers to determine if a SMART unit at the site of the call is needed. However, because
there are times when there is only one unit available, that unit can only be tuned into one police
division and will only hear calls originating from that division.
A detailed summary of the MEU and SMART operations and functions can be found in Appendix I.
Findings
•

MEU tracks incoming calls in two ways. One is a paper and pencil system that
tracks the type of call received. However the type of call category combines reasons

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for calls and outcomes of calls. This data does not allow for an accurate assessment
of the function of MEU or the outcomes of encounters.
•

The second MEU tracking system is a computerized database that keeps track of
incidents or episodes in which a 5150 WIC (involuntary psychiatric hold) is instituted
by a police officer. Similar to the other system, incidents are reported in categories
that may not provide a clear outcome.

•

A review of 60 incident reports did not provide any information about how officers
deal with encounters with persons who have a mental illness on the scene.

•

Discrepancies in the number of 5150 WIC holds from each tracking system were
found. Tracking systems cannot track all police encounters with persons with a
mental illness. The system does not monitor specialized responses by SMART.

•

MEU officers do not receive any formal training for their MEU functions.

•

Despite their experience in handling calls involving persons with a mental illness,
MEU personnel do not provide any specialized training at roll calls or to other
departments for dealing with encounters with persons who may be suspected of
having a mental illness.

•

A large majority of officers report having used MEU or SMART (98.6 percent and
90.7 percent, respectively). Three quarters of the officers agree that MEU or SMART
were helpful when working with persons with a mental illness in crisis (77.5 percent
and 75.5 percent, respectively).

•

Due to limited staffing and the need to provide vacation and adjust for periods of illness,
SMART units have not been available on a 24-hour basis every day of the week.

•

The Los Angeles SMART team training is provided through conferences supported
by agencies such as LAPD, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD), and DMH.
The training is very extensive. The curriculum contains much information on most
aspects of interacting, assessing, and directing consumers in crisis to the most
appropriate source of assistance. Training includes a review of police options and
information on accessing the Mental Health court system.

•

The training makes extensive use of community mental health professionals in
delivering information to the SMART team trainees. Information on street drugs and
current problem drugs is very useful information for the officers. The information
stating the characteristics of intoxication, and how it can be similar to symptoms of
various mental illnesses, is especially concrete and useable. Overall, the training
material is in-depth, extensive, and extremely informative.

Strengths and limitations are identified below.
Strengths of MEU
•

Data depository
MEU serves as the repository for involuntary psychiatric hold (5150 WIC) paperwork
completed by LAPD officers.

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•

Consultation Center
Per policy, patrol officers are to notify MEU when a 5150 hold is placed on a subject.
Patrol contacts MEU if the officer identifies a need for a SMART unit. MEU
dispatches a SMART unit if there is one available.

•

Inter-agency collaboration
SWAT and Crisis Negotiations Team rely on MEU to provide information about
previous contacts involving a person who has a mental illness and has been placed
on a 5150 WIC or had a SMART unit referred.

Limitations of M EU
•

Staff
Staff is not specially trained to handle encounters with persons who may have a
mental illness.

•

Data systems
Though MEU is a data repository, current systems lack the sophistication to
accurately monitor police contacts with persons with a mental illness.

Strengths of SMART
•

Relationship with multiple agencies
Multiple agencies including the LASD and DMH are involved in several conferences
throughout the year to provide training and skill development for SMART teams.

•

Financial and system assistance from local mental health authority
The county mental health agency provides the financial support for clinicians as well
as access to County mental health records. This facilitates the evaluation of the
subject by the police officer and clinician.

•

Leadership
A supervisor within the police department provides support to the SMART officers,
actively collaborates with DMH, and leads the SMART program.

•

Inter-agency collaboration
SWAT and Crisis Negotiations Team rely on SMART units to provide mental health
history for crisis encounters that involve a person who has a mental illness and has
received treatment from DMH programs.

Limitations of SMART
•

Staffing
The City of Los Angeles has the largest geographic region of any of the cities
reviewed. The geography of Los Angeles poses a great challenge for SMART.
Currently, SMART is staffed with 10 units. Each unit consists of one LAPD officer
and one DMH clinician. This number of units cannot provide 24-hour coverage 7
days a week to patrol officers across 18 divisions. One of the purposes of SMART is
to assist patrol officers and take responsibility to complete a disposition so that patrol

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can return to their regular duties. The low number of SMART units cannot address
the need of patrol in such a large geographic region quickly and across all shifts.
•

Lack of a central psychiatric receiving facility
Unlike San Diego and the CIT programs reviewed, Los Angeles lacks a central
psychiatric receiving facility. This is a function of geography rather than specific
policy, but poses a challenge to SMART units and patrol officers when transporting a
subject to a psychiatric facility under an involuntary psychiatric hold (WIC 5150).

Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Pilot Program
LAPD consulted with Albuquerque Police Department in the development of a local pilot CIT
training and operations. Officers with CIT training were deployed in Central Area in spring 2001.
Another cohort will be trained in late spring 2002. More detailed information can be found in
Appendix I.
CIT is a first responding unit of field officers with special training in mental health issues. The
program in based on the Memphis Model, a generalist-specialist model that provides a
specialized response to "mental disturbance" crisis calls by officers who also have regularly
assigned patrol duties. The CIT officer typically resolves situations at the scene through deescalation, negotiation or verbal crisis intervention.
•

The pilot program was led in large part by a lieutenant in Central Area with the
assistance of a sergeant, senior lead officer, and senior police service
representative. All were expected to conduct their regularly assigned duties during
the development, planning, and operations phases of the CIT pilot.

•

The CIT Coordinator collaborates with outside agencies such as DMH, LAMP,
Midnight Mission, and the Homeless Task Force for technical assistance in
developing the training and operations.

•

Of 60 CIT responses, there were 13 incidents in which the subject was violent or
aggressive and in only one was use of force necessary. The program is highly
regarded with some concern that there are still a third of CIT officers that have not
responded to a mental disturbance call and some CIT officers remain disinterested in
the program.

•

CIT officers track incidents with the Crisis Assessment and Intervention Report
developed by CIT leadership. The form includes information about contact location,
medical status, physical symptoms, reasons for involuntary hold, and disposition of
the incident. Some officers use this information to assist hospital staff in determining
the need for an involuntary psychiatric hold.

Strengths and limitations are described below.
Strengths of CIT
•

First responders
The CIT program has provided 40-hour training to a cadre of generalist-specialists
who are available as first responders in the Central Area. Preliminary evidence
indicates less frequent use of force and fewer officer injuries.
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•

Leadership
The current CIT Coordinator is dedicated to the program and provides close
supervision of CIT officers. The Coordinator is also committed to the development of
a comprehensive curriculum.

•

Training
CIT training is outstanding and makes improvements on the training offered in other
model CIT programs.

•

Collaboration with community agencies
A few service providers from the local community within the pilot area were included
in the development of the program. This is an important and essential aspect of CIT
programs nationwide.

•

Use of consumers in training
Persons with a mental illness (consumers) with past substance abuse history were
included in substance abuse training components to provide first hand knowledge
about the effects of substance abuse. Previously homeless consumers were also
brought into training to share their own history with CIT officers to help them gain a
better understanding of homeless consumers

Limitations of CIT
•

Lack of agency support
The current CIT program functions in isolation of other programs. There is no cross
training with other units such as SMART or MEU, nor is there any involvement on the
part of Training Division or Behavioral Sciences. There have been no changes in
policies to easily identify CIT officers in the field so that they are deployed
automatically by Communications. The City of Los Angeles reports that the program
was not integrated because it was a pilot program and wanted to test its
effectiveness. If the pilot program continues, agency support is necessary.

•

Limited community partnerships
Due to a quick start-up, little attempt was made to develop partnerships with other
agencies including DMH and psychiatric receiving facilities. In other CIT programs,
success is strongly associated with the ability to quickly complete the call by
delivering the subject in crisis to a psychiatric facility that can receive the subject
immediately. Without community partnerships, this cannot be and was not an
outcome of the pilot program. The CIT program will not be able to operate as
efficiently as other CIT programs without more developed partnerships with DMH
and psychiatric facilities.

•

Limited consumer/advocacy input
There was some involvement with the consumer and advocacy community in the
development or delivery of training in the area local to the division in which the pilot
took place. One of the expected outcomes of CIT program development is an
improved relationship with the community, particularly consumers, families, and
advocates on a greater scale. Generally, groups such as the Alliance for the
Mentally Ill are involved in the development and maintenance of CIT programs in
other jurisdictions.

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REVIEW OF PERTINENT LAPD OPERATIONS
LAPD Operations of particular interest to this study are found in the Communications Division
handling of 911 calls, MEU/SMART units of the Detective Headquarters Division, and the
Critical Incident Investigation Division. This section presents pertinent findings from a review of
each of these areas.

Communications Division: 911 Calls
All calls coming into the 911 system are routed by the Communications Division of the LAPD. In
order to determine the nature of the call, Emergency Board Operators (EBOs) interview all
callers to assess the urgency of each situation. The preliminary responsibility for determining
the mental state of all callers is placed on the EBO. EBOs question the caller to obtain as much
relevant information as possible to ascertain the priority level of each call, the pertinent details,
and the main actors in order to provide an accurate report to the dispatched officers. EBO
assessment of the caller is important for the safety of the caller, the public and the responding
police officers. A detailed summary of the operations and review of 911 incidents can be found
in Appendix H.
Findings
•

LAPD’s Communication Division receives 3.5 million calls a year; however, 85
percent of these calls are not regarded by LAPD as true emergencies.

•

Of the emergency calls, an average of almost 12,000 calls each year, or 2.3 percent
of all calls received, were considered “mental disturbance” calls (918 or 918V).

•

The operator does not communicate with MEU or SMART even if a 918 call is
identified. The operator dispatches a patrol unit that will coordinate directly with
MEU and inform the operator as communication takes place.

•

Based on data collected from Communications, dispositions that reflect
hospitalization or a specific outcome of these calls cannot be determined. A review
of incidents confirms this. For example, a call that was completed by a SMART unit
had a final disposition code of OCC, which means the patrol officer cleared the call.
Because there are no specific codes for 5150 WIC hold or transport to a hospital,
analysis of disposition codes is not useful to monitor police encounters with persons
who may have a mental illness.

•

A review of training protocols for EBOs suggests that the curriculum provides an
adequate strategy for obtaining information important for officers responding to a call,
including information about potential for risk for self-harm or violence, and medical
conditions that may be pertinent to the subject’s condition.

•

Training does not include verbal de-escalation techniques to assist the operator with
an agitated, mentally disabled or gravely disabled caller.

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Training for operators on risk potential for suicidal calls is provided by Behavioral
Science Section (BSS).

MEU/SMART
A review of MEU/SMART operations is found above under Review of LAPD’s Best Practices
(pp. 19-21).

Critical Incident Investigation Division: Use of Force
A more detailed description of findings for the Critical Incident Investigation Division (CIID) can
be found in Appendix J.
Findings
•

Personnel in the CIID had to rely on their memory of cases that occurred in or after
1999 in which the subject of a Categorical Use of Force was believed or known to be
mentally ill. There is currently no standardized system to identify incidents in which a
person with a mental illness is involved in a categorical use of force.

•

Thirty-one cases were identified in years 1999 and 2000. Incidents from 2001 were
not available for this study because they are still under review.

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REVIEW OF TRAINING, POLICIES AND
PROCEDURES
The Rampart Corruption Incident brought training issues to the forefront. The weaknesses of
the Department’s training program are considered to be beyond the individual curriculum, but
with the “hit and miss” nature of training. The expenditure for training, both in terms of
instructors and the time officers are “off the street,” is significant.
The LAPD Board of Inquiry has identified several gaps in the Department’s training program. In
response to the requirements of the Consent Decree, the current study expands on certain
elements of the internal review by the Board of Inquiry. The focus of this study is on training
relevant to the encounter of officers with persons who may be experiencing a mental illness,
and will make recommendations about specific training venues for those encounters. Detailed
findings are presented in Appendix L.
FINDINGS
Basic Recruit (Academy Training)
•

Training is very limited in time assigned and the breath of the curriculum regarding
mental illness.

•

Training is more didactic and incorporates limited problem-based learning techniques
incorporated.

•

Scenario training needs review for content and consistency with Department policies.

•

Training includes few practical steps to assist the officer in applying the material.

•

Instructors have limited information beyond the material presented.

Roll Call Training
•

Roll call training is "hit and miss."

•

Training can be used to reinforce CEDP training on select material such as new policies
or statutory laws.

•

Instructors with subject matter expertise do not always provide instruction. The
instructors are often whoever is on duty and in charge of roll call.

Continuing Education/Updates
•

Training time each year for the Department is inadequate. A general trend in other
jurisdictions is to dedicate 4 to 8 hours per year to training on mental health or related
topics.

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Bulletins/Newsletters/Postings/Communiqués/Video Clips
•

Uses of these materials are excellent supplemental training methods. A strategic plan
should be developed for this training technique.

Communication Center
•

Information about the special services provided by operators and dispatchers is
sometimes left out of training programs. It is important for others to understand their role
in mental illness related incidents.

•

Operators and dispatchers also need to know what questions to ask and what data to
pass on to patrol officers. Good direction is shown in their revised lesson plans.

•

Behavioral Sciences Section provides training on suicide intervention for operators.

Special Projects
•

The pilot CIT program is a good example where specialized training is provided for 5
percent to 20 percent of officers. This training is frequently 40 hours with 8-hour annual
updates. The first evaluation report of the pilot shows excellent early results. Such
specialized training and program innovations can be generalized to varying degrees for
all officers throughout the department.

General Findings and Considerations
•

Training methods are as important, or more so, than the content of the curriculum.

•

The quantity of material that is recommended is likely to exceed the time available to the
Department. A strategy for addressing issues around mental illness is needed in the
context of the total training package.

•

Basic recruit training is often mandated by state standards. In California, the Peace
Officer Standards for Training reviews and certifies training for basic recruits. Many
states are revising their basic recruit training to include a module on mental illness with
numerous additional modules on human relations related topics such as developmental
disabilities and substance abuse. If the state does not revise the standards,
consideration can be given for those modules at local discretion.

•

Basic recruit training generally centers on competency training. The use of videos, roleplay or other simulation can include encounters with persons with mental illnesses or
general emotional disturbances. These experiential approaches are much more likely to
result in improved problem solving on the street.

•

Field Training Officers further train new officers. This on-the-job mentoring can be very
valuable but is only as valuable as the skills, knowledge and attitudes of the Field
Training Officer. It is therefore essential that FTOs receive specialized instruction and
experience in issues of mental illness.

•

The MEU is a primary focal point of the LAPD system. There is no evidence of
adequate training for these positions.

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•

Continuous updates and ongoing presentation of key issues are important on a
continuous basis. Annual refresher courses are appropriate. This can be supplemented
by a planned dissemination of training material through bulletins, newsletters, and roll
call training. The development of a long-range strategy for all personnel to receive
training on this topic over the course of their career would avoid the perceived hit-andmiss of current training activities.

•

Language use is a critical consideration in all training and written documents. Terms like
"male mental" are not appropriate. Use of terms such as "schizo" demonstrates a less
than desirable image and attitude about those who experience these disorders.

•

Training on issues related to mental illness is not contingent on developing special
training for special projects and specific personnel such as in a CIT model. Although this
may have excellent possibilities, it is important that training for all officers is seen as a
priority of the Department.

•

Development of the training package is best accomplished by an internal planning
committee, with input from community stakeholders. This can enhance public relations
as well as help focus the training package on local concerns. Persons with expertise in
developing curricula in mental health for law enforcement should be considered for
inclusion in the committee. LAPD has an internal planning committee, but does not
contain the above mentioned personnel.

•

Community stakeholder involvement in the planning process has value if no more than
the public relations function. This is evident in the development of the SMART program
and in the precincts that developed special programs such as the homeless outreach,
and community courts. Little or no external advisory function exists for the total training
functions within the Department.

•

Input by stakeholders including, but not limited to the following, may be valuable: local
chapters of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, county and not-for-profit community
behavioral healthcare providers, local psychiatric facilities, and consumer representation.

•

Instruction can benefit from including community providers, family members of persons
with a mental illness, and persons with a mental illness. This is not to replace but to
supplement training by officer-trainers.

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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The previous sections of this report present findings from the research activities outlined in the
Methods section. This section offers conclusions and recommendations based on those
findings. These conclusions also draw on the experience and judgment of Lodestar researchers
and consultants who have conducted other, pertinent large-scale studies in the areas of law
enforcement, mental health and organizational change. In effect, these conclusions are
linkages between research findings and recommendations, providing the rationales for specific
recommendations.
The recommendations made in this report are for system-wide changes. They are followed by a
plan and timeline for implementing those changes, along with estimates of costs and an
identification of the benefits of each recommendation.

Organizational Priorities and Planning
Based on Lodestar’s inquiry and analysis, effectively reducing the potential for violence in
encounters between LAPD officers and persons with a mental illness will require changes in the
Department’s general approach to these encounters. System-wide changes – proposed
modifications to training, policy and procedure that affect response to persons with a mental
illness at an agency-wide level – will be the foundation for LAPD’s reforms in this area. Such
system changes will demonstrate to the Los Angeles community and internal stakeholders that
LAPD is committed to being responsive to the need for improving these encounters. .
A nationwide search and review of literature identified police departments with successful and
effective approaches for dealing with encounters with persons with a mental illness. These
approaches have similar attributes that appear to affect the success of their program including
community partnerships, specialized training, internal reviews of the specialized response and
active support of problem solving within the department.
The LAPD currently has two specialized response units that respond directly to persons with a
mental illness (SMART and CIT pilot program) with an additional program (MEU) designed to
assist patrol officers with these cases and collect data related to involuntary psychiatric holds.
Leaders from these programs are not regular participants in community partnerships that deal
with these issues throughout the city of Los Angeles. Individual specialized response units
collaborate with certain agencies (e.g., SMART with DMH). Representatives from OperationsCentral Bureau attend meetings including Los Angeles City Council Community Court Task
Force, Police Commission Task Force on Mental Illness, and Operations-Central Bureau
Service Providers Task Force. Though efforts have been made to include community
perspectives on how the LAPD handles encounters with persons with a mental illness, such
activity is not present across all divisions. The following recommendations are based on these
findings.

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Recommendation 1
• Identify and prioritize Lodestar recommendations to be adopted; develop a detailed
and long-range implementation plan (including budget and timeline) for adopted
recommendations that addresses system reform regarding police encounters with
individuals who may have a mental illness.
The recommendations that follow provide a comprehensive and coherent approach to
reform regarding police encounters involving mental health crises. However, the LAPD
should determine which recommendations, or their adaptations, are to be adopted and their
respective priorities. In addition, the Department must develop a detailed implementation
plan that will take into consideration existing LAPD priorities as well as staffing, calendaring,
and fiscal opportunities and constraints. This detailed implementation plan should cover a
period of three to five years. Sections of the plan should address issues such as: planning
process; measurable objectives and outcomes; organizational infrastructure; community
outreach; staffing and reporting; curricula and training; data collection and dissemination;
incentives and recognition; auditing and evaluation, and other areas identified as critical by
LAPD. The plan should be the product of a broad-based work group. The plan should be
reviewed and revised on an annual basis.
Recommendation 2
• Develop a department-wide philosophy statement about handling encounters that
involve a person with a mental illness.
Changing the way line patrol officers respond to encounters involving persons with a mental
illness must begin with a clear and consistent message from departmental leaders and
command staff about the attitude, general intent and specific objective of LAPD’s response to
this population. The recommendation to develop a “philosophy statement” is intended to
promote clarity, uniformity and commitment in the message that command staff and supervisors
provide to personnel. The entire department’s commitment to reducing the potential for violence
in these encounters – however it is specified in that statement – should be put forth immediately
and visibly. While people may differ privately about the value or nuances of the philosophy, it is
imperative that not just its content but its spirit be supported and communicated uniformly and
without reservation. It is strongly recommended that internal stakeholders and staff, particularly
those who have participated in LAPD’s specialized responses, develop this statement.
Recommendation 3
• Change language in written policies and training.
Some of the language in LAPD documents currently used to refer to people with mental
illness is inconsistent with the stated preferences of the population to which it refers. The
national trend for nearly 10 years in referring to persons who have a disability (including a
mental disability) has been to use “people first” language (e.g., “persons with a mental
illness”). While this usage may, at times, seem somewhat cumbersome, it has substantial
symbolic importance and communicates respect and sensitivity, while minimizing stigma and
pejorative connotations. The change should apply to written and verbal communications –
particularly in training and outside the agency. For example, instead of “mental” (918) as a
phrase used to describe calls involving a person suspected of having a mental illness, refer
to these calls as “mental health crisis” calls. Other descriptive characteristics (e.g., male or
violent) are still acceptable and necessary descriptors for appropriate police response.

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Recommendation 4
• Develop specialized community partnerships.
As part of improving the agency’s community image and its relationships with persons with a
mental illness, their families and advocates, it is essential to further develop and maintain
partnerships between the LAPD and relevant community groups at both city-wide and
division levels. The key is to develop relationships specifically for this purpose and thereby
establish lines of communication that can improve responsiveness to the community before
a crisis occurs. Successful programs in other jurisdictions have active, ongoing
collaborations with agencies such as the local chapters of the Alliance for the Mentally Ill
(AMI), Mental Health Association, and the local mental health services authority. A critical
element in ensuring the success of this recommendation is to assign a senior ranking
member of the command staff to serve as top liaison to the mental health community, and
someone in each division as well, who can assume responsibility for communicating with
key groups when, and before, community concerns arise. As is always true in community
policing, effective partnerships require regular meetings, good working relationships, ready
disclosure of information and a joint commitment to preventing negative outcomes.
These partnerships require tending at both city-wide and division levels. City-wide, the
LAPD should have a mental health advisory group comprised of major stakeholders, many
now participating in advisory groups with LAPD, who would meet periodically – and fairly
frequently during the development of new response systems. Organizations that should
participate in this group include the local chapters of the above mentioned advocacy
organizations (AMI, MHA), DMH, and representatives of some of the key community
agencies and service providers across the City of Los Angeles. This high-level group would
demonstrate to all, and model for each division, LAPD’s leadership in this area, and serve
as a forum for dialogue with LAPD about ideas, problems and solutions. It is critical that the
members of this city-wide group represent agencies with constituents across all divisions.
Local versions of this advisory group should operate within each division, perhaps through
C-PAB committees or hosted by local agencies that provide leadership in this area.

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Organizational Infrastructure
Each current specialized response program, SMART, MEU and CIT, uses a different procedure
for collecting data and a different system for storing that data. The responsibilities of these
programs naturally require different policies and procedures in order to perform their unique
functions well. There is some collaboration across the SMART and MEU, mainly a result of the
requirement of MEU to deploy or authorize SMART units to respond to calls. MEU is to be
consulted when a patrol officer identifies a person who may have a mental illness and in need of
hospitalization, but these encounters can only be identified if a call is made into MEU and
recorded by MEU staff. It was determined that many encounters are not recorded. Also,
current recording systems produce limited information about these encounters. SMART has
similar difficulties with recording information but has an additional constraint. The encounter a
SMART officer has with a subject is considered a “clinical encounter” by DMH, and thus
confidential. DMH has asked the LAPD not to record information about the encounter in order
to protect the privacy of the subject. This limits the LAPD’s ability to actively review SMART
officers’ roles and procedures in these instances.
In order to provide an integrated and seamless response to calls involving persons with a
mental illness, it will be necessary to create policies across divisions and units that support
specialized responses. For example, in Memphis, a specialized responder can be identified and
dispatched by Communications and if other units are on-scene, the specialized responder
assumes command of the scene. Organizationally, there is collaboration among the SMART
and MEU staff as a result of policies established between these units. The CIT pilot has not yet
been incorporated into these long-established programs. It will be important to evaluate the
effectives of these responses through the use of coordinated data review and analysis across
different program responses.
Recommendation 5
• Centralize authority for all LAPD specialized response programs for persons with a
mental illness under the auspices of a single entity.
Several distinct units providing specialized responses for calls involving persons with a
mental illness currently exist within LAPD (i.e., SMART, MEU and the CIT pilot). For
efficiency of response and communication, it would be beneficial if administrative authority
for these programs were combined. For the purpose of this report, this suggested
coordinating entity – and overall rubric for specialized response – will be referred to as the
Crisis Assessment and Intervention Team (CAIT) 16. LAPD is encouraged to develop and
adopt their own name for the coordinating body to demonstrate ownership and a
commitment to change. Under whatever name is adopted, CAIT would provide uniformity to
specialized responses currently used by LAPD, unite these programs, coordinate their
functions and, agency-wide, provide a common moniker and philosophy. The commanding
officer (with Staff responsibility per section 2/030.50) would lead the team and ensure that
the various responses would work together to provide comprehensive and appropriate
responses (see Figure 1 for the organizational structure).

16

Thus, SMART teams would be referred to as CAIT-DMH teams, MEU personnel would now be CAIT
personnel, and officers currently identified as CIT would be identified as CAIT officers.

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Figure 1

Proposed Organization Chart
for Coordinating LAPD’s Mental Crisis Specialized Response
Commander

Coordinator

CAIT-DMH Supervisor

CAIT-DMH
Personnel
(formerly SMART)

CAIT Administrative
Personnel
(formerly MEU)

Division Sergeants

CAIT Field Officers
(formerly CIT)

Recommendation 6
• Assign a dedicated lead officer to coordinate CAIT.
The CAIT coordinator should handle functions similar to those of a CIT Coordinator. The
Coordinator (with Functional responsibility, per 2/030.10) would oversee the documentation of
calls involving persons with a mental illness, data collection for internal record-keeping and for
program evaluation purposes, and continuing education training for CAIT officers and
personnel. The Coordinator would also manage the operations of CAIT officers paired with
DMH clinicians. The Coordinator should also monitor the training of specialized officers and
review encounters by evaluating data collected by CAIT.
The selection of an appropriate CAIT Coordinator will be critical. Based on an analysis of
specialized programs in other cities, the Coordinator must be an officer who is respected and
readily recognized as a leader among her/his peers. The Coordinator should be known by others
to possess exceptional interpersonal skills and a sound knowledge of tactics and officer safety.
Recommendation 7
• Document CAIT calls with an incident log.
CAIT officers should complete a CAIT contact sheet for all encounters involving persons
with a mental illness and this information should be entered regularly into an information
database that is accessible to CAIT personnel. An incident form developed by CIT in
Central Bureau contains detailed information about the encounter and the mental status of
the subject. A sample form is included in Appendix M, which includes a place to document
any use of force. The recommended CAIT contact forms will be easy to complete so as not
to contribute to the burden of paperwork, and they can be used for operational analysis,
planning and program evaluation. This form can be supplemented with items on data forms

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that SMART clinicians use for recording encounters. The form should be modified to
contain data the CAIT coordinator determines is important in reviewing CAIT functions and
effectiveness.
Recommendation 8
• Create a single, integrated database for encounters with all specialized responses..
Currently, LAPD maintains minimal information on 5150 WIC calls and other incidents
involving persons with a mental illness as recorded by MEU. DMH clinicians who co-respond
with LAPD officers (currently, SMART) record much more detailed information about these
encounters although these accounts reflect only the cause and outcome of encounters, not
officer behavior. The proposed database should include details of the encounter but not
intrude on “clinical” information that would be considered by DMH to be confidential. The
purpose of this database would be to allow for an analysis of the process and outcomes of
these encounters.
Officers in the CIT pilot program gather detailed information about each encounter involving a
person suspected of having a mental illness. CIT and SMART should jointly record
information from these encounters in a single database that is accessible to personnel from
both programs, and use a similar incident log, as referenced above. Information provided by
these logs could be stored electronically in a database already kept by DMH. Agreement from
DMH to access the database must be in place in order for LAPD to use this tracking system
for their own purposes (see Recommendation 10). If DMH does not wish to alter the
agreement, the LAPD should develop their own database so that adequate tracking of
encounters for any specialized response to persons suspected of having a mental illness can
be monitored and reviewed.
Recommendation 9
• Clarify policies and procedures for involuntary psychiatric holds.
Current policy requires patrol officers to notify MEU if a subject is being placed on a 5150 WIC
(involuntary psychiatric hold). At times, an officer may have to return to the station and wait until
a SMART unit arrives to conduct an additional evaluation. If a SMART unit does not arrive
within a reasonable period, officers may then transport the subject to a psychiatric receiving
facility. SMART units can transport persons in need of hospitalization directly to the nearest
psychiatric facility.
With the two-layer approach that is proposed, the time-consuming interim step of returning to
the station would be eliminated for specially trained patrol officers (CAIT). Policies should be
modified to allow CAIT officers to transport subjects directly to a psychiatric receiving facility in
order to speed assistance to subjects in crisis. CAIT officers would notify the coordinating
center of the hold by completing an incident log that is forwarded to the CAIT coordinator for
review and recording. CAIT-DMH officers would follow the current procedures that SMART
units follow in addition to completing an incident log that is forwarded to the CAIT coordinator.
Recommendation 10
• Revise the Memorandum of Understanding between LAPD and DMH.
Further information sharing between LAPD and DMH will facilitate better and safer
responses, including the proposed integrated database for responses to calls involving a
person with mental illness (see Recommendation 8). A MOU currently exists that allows
DMH to share information with officers from SMART only. However, if, as proposed,
SMART functions are subsumed under CAIT, the MOU may need to be clarified accordingly.

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Mental Crisis Encounters
The two primary objectives in responding to any call involving a person with mental illness are:
(1) to have an appropriate (and non-violent) on-scene encounter and (2) to provide an
appropriate disposition of the case. To accomplish these objectives, jurisdictions with effective
specialized responses typically deploy specially trained officers (e.g., Memphis CIT) or mental
health clinicians (e.g., San Diego PERT). For reasons noted elsewhere (resources, logistics,
etc.), LAPD should not attempt to replicate either of these models as they exist. Rather, a
blended approach to specialized response, specially suited for LAPD, is recommended, one that
uses the strengths of each responder (police and mental health professional) to accomplish the
objectives for which it is best suited.
How are the two objectives best accomplished? As noted, effective response to mental crisis
calls involves planning for positive resolution of the on-scene encounter and for appropriate
disposition. In the field encounter, the task of the responder is to deescalate a volatile or
worsening situation without any unnecessary use of force. The Consent Decree specifically
addresses the need for LAPD to create a mode of response that minimizes the likelihood of
force being used in encounters between officers and people with mental illnesses.
The tone of an encounter and the direction in which it moves is often determined in the initial
period of contact between the officer and subject. Therefore, to maximize the likelihood of a
positive (non-violent) field encounter, it is advisable to have a specially-trained responder make
first contact with the subject whenever possible. The success of programs that carefully select,
then train, officers with special skills in crisis intervention and mental health issues, attests to the
potential of this approach to reduce the use of force and facilitate positive resolution of field
encounters.
While some mental health professionals may also possess some of these skills, there is no
empirical evidence to suggest that they perform any better than the specialized officers in actual
field encounters. Based on our review of programs nationally, having mental health
professionals available for operational response is, however, helpful in two ways: (1) they
sometimes have an advanced level of professional knowledge that can assist in assessment
(e.g., in determining what effect a particular medication might have on behavior) and (2) they
can help to facilitate appropriate dispositions and reduce officer “down time” in situations where
the subject is being subjected to an emergency detention/commitment, i.e., 5150. These
potential benefits argue for retaining SMART clinicians in some way, although it clearly is not
necessary for them to respond to every call. Rather, they could be used most effectively in
those particular encounters where specialized consultation may be needed or in which a 5150 is
being initiated.
Why not just replicate Memphis CIT or San Diego PERT? Differences in the size and
infrastructure of Los Angeles (compared to these other cities) makes a “boilerplate” adaptation
unlikely to succeed.
Memphis, for example, is able to facilitate a positive field encounter and have a rapid disposition
of “5150”-type cases because they have a single assessment site for the entire city and that site
prioritizes police referrals and offers a “no refusal” policy. Los Angeles does not have – and is
not likely to have – a single point of entry for psychiatric emergencies. Thus, rapid disposition in
Memphis could not be replicated in Los Angeles.

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In contrast, the PERT Team in San Diego does not provide initial contact or first response to
any “high risk” situation. A mental health clinician would only be permitted to enter a scene after
it has been stabilized by officers. However, since developing PERT, San Diego Police
Department has significantly reduced patrol time spent on 5150 calls because the clinicians,
who are employed by the county department of mental health, make calls in advance to secure
placement of the subject and “pave the way” for the transfer of custody. Similarly, the county’s
main psychiatric emergency evaluation center says that inappropriate referrals (detainees who
are determined not to meet 5150 criteria) – and total case volume – have been dramatically
reduced.
PERT, however, maintains a cadre of 17 full time mental health clinicians (most of whom are
county employees) to provide basic city-wide coverage for their existing hours of operation. The
number of clinicians required to provide the same coverage – given the relative size of the two
cities’ populations – would be at least three times greater in Los Angeles. This clearly would be
an expensive option for both the County and City of Los Angeles, and require hiring a large
number of new personnel. Yet, even if the PERT model was adopted, the highest risk calls
involving people with mental illness would still not have a specially-trained responder making
initial contact.
What is the best solution for LAPD? Based on the above analysis, we recommend LAPD have
a significant number of specially selected and trained officers (CAIT) who can serve as first
responders – making initial contact – for calls involving people with mental illnesses. These
officers would work on a generalist-specialist model, with regular patrol assignments, but would
have priority for deployment to any mental crisis call. The primary goal of this intervention
would be to increase the likelihood of positively resolved, non-violent filed encounters.
In addition to having strategically deployed CAIT officers throughout the city, we recommend
that mental health clinicians still be available as a resource to patrol officers (much like the way
that SMART currently operates) to offer specialized consultation on mental health issues and to
help facilitate and streamline the processing of 5150 cases. We are also recommending the all
patrol officers be more effectively trained to recognize and deal with mental health issues,
including knowing when and how to contact CAIT.
Recommendation 11
• Prioritize specialized response as first responders to calls involving persons with a
mental illness.
Improving the actual police encounter with persons with a mental illness begins with
modifying the initial response. Accordingly, we recommend that LAPD adopt procedures
that will maximize the likelihood that a specially-trained responder will have the initial contact
(or at least early contact) with the subject. This would be accomplished primarily by creating
a cadre of generalist/specialist officers who have been carefully selected for CAIT and have
completed intensive, specialized training, similar to that developed for the LAPD CIT pilot.
These CAIT officers would be identifiable to dispatchers in the Communications Center, who
would attempt to direct one of them to any identified mental crisis call. In addition, we suggest
that there be 24-hour/7-day city-wide availability of a co-responding CAIT-DMH team (CAIT
officer and DMH clinician) – much as SMART currently operates, but with expanded coverage.
These co-responding units would primarily provide support for CAIT and other patrol officers
and help to streamline the processing of 5150 cases. (See Figure 2 for description of
functions of each unit.)

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Figure 2: Procedures to Promote Effective Specialized Response to Persons with a Mental Illness
Function

CAIT-DMH
(formerly SMART)

CAIT Administrative
Personnel

CAIT

Patrol

(formerly CIT Pilot)

(non-specialized)

Special
Considerations

(formerly MEU)
Deployment of
officer if a call
is identified as
a mental health
crisis call

• Deployed by

Training

• Receive CAIT training

Communications
Division; or may
respond to radio call

and designated a CAITtrained officer

Supervised by
Primary
Functions

Types of
Response

• No responsibilities to

• Deployed by

deploy

• Can receive CAIT training

Communications Division;
or may respond to radio call

• Receive CAIT training and

to understand field
considerations and
provide back-up

• CAIT-DMH Supervising

• CAIT-DMH Supervising

Officer
• To respond to mental
health crisis calls
• To participate in training
for basic recruit and
continuing education
relevant to encounters
involving persons with a
mental illness

Officer
• To collect data from CAIT
incident logs
• To assist in the review
and analysis of CAIT
incident data

• Act as first response to

• Does not respond to calls

a mental crisis call
• Provide a co-response
with patrol officers
• Provide consultation
and assistance for
SWAT and Crisis
Negotiations

• Provides information

designated a CAIT-trained
officer

• Watch Commander of
•

•

about past contacts to
assist planning for patrol
or special unit (e.g.,
SWAT) in potentially
violent encounters

•
•
•

assigned Division
As a generalist-specialist, to
respond to both regular
calls and mental health
crisis calls as a primary
responder
To participate in training for
basic recruit and continuing
education relevant to such
encounters
Act as first response to a
mental health crisis call
Provide a co-response with
patrol officers
Provide consultation and
assistance for SWAT and
Crisis Negotiations

• Deployed by

Communications
Division if no CAIT or
CAIT-DMH is available
• Will request a CAIT
officer (CAIT or CAITDMH) if additional
assistance is needed
• Receives no special
training

• Communications

Division would
deploy the nearest
CAIT-trained officer

• It is important to

have senior CAIT
officers participate
in training related to
these encounters
for regular patrol
officers

• Watch Commander of

assigned Division
• To respond to any call

• Can act as first

response to a mental
health crisis call if no
specialized officer is
available

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Recommendation 12
• Increase the number of first responding officers with expertise.
The actions of first responders are pivotal to decreasing the likelihood that mental crisis
encounters quickly become more volatile and potentially violent. Officers trained in special
tactics and approaches to crisis situations involving persons with a mental illness increase
the likelihood of appropriate disposition without a use of force. The proposed two-layered
plan for specialized response calls for training a cadre of generalist-specialist responders.
As noted above, the program curriculum used in the CIT pilot program provides a strong
foundation for the policies, procedures and training for such a response. However, more
CAIT officers will be needed. Based on estimates from other jurisdictions, coverage on all
shifts usually can occur when approximately 15-20% of sworn officers assigned to patrol
have been trained. These officers should be drawn from a pool of volunteers and be
carefully screened and selected for the intensive training. To set the proper climate,
command staff should work actively to promote the importance and visibility of CAIT as a
high-priority program within LAPD.
Recommendation 13
• Develop a system to identify CAIT officers and dispatch them.
The current dispatch system can not determine whether a specialized officer is in the field.
A new dispatch system is under development and will be in place by April 2003, according
to personnel within Communications Division. The new system will allow for specialized
officers who are in the field to be identified with a special code so that the dispatcher can
send that specific unit to a scene that involves a person with a mental illness. Written policy
would need to be altered to reflect this procedural change. Because a first response is
somewhat dependent on the ability to dispatch a specialized officer, full deployment of CAIT
officers division-wide may be delayed until an appropriate dispatch system is in place.
Law Enforcement-Based Mental Health Response: CAIT-DMH
Recommendation 14
• Expand co-responding CAIT-DMH (SMART) personnel to provide full coverage.
Currently, LAPD deploys co-responding teams – known as SMART – composed of an officer
and a DMH clinician. LAPD was innovative in helping to pioneer this model of specialized
response and the continuation and expansion of this approach is supported. Patrol officers
report that co-responding units are helpful and facilitate connections to DMH. While officers
seem satisfied with the quality of response, many express frustration about long response
times or limited availability.
To build on the existing strength of the LAPD’s specialized responses the following is
recommended: (1) provide a more integrated structure by incorporating the co-responding
SMART teams in name and structure under CAIT (see Recommendation #5); (2) expand
deployment of co-responding units so that one or more are in service 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week. This would require more units on every shift and staffed in each division, resulting
in 24 CAIT-DMH units (as reported by a lead SMART officer). These units would be
dispatched similarly to CAIT officers.
Increasing the number of co-responding units would require that DMH supply additional
clinicians, which could be a problem considering the County’s current fiscal and resource
constraints. If additional clinicians were not available, this would not affect the purpose or

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spirit of the other recommended changes. The strengths of the other recommendations are
not contingent on the expansion of co-responding teams, though that expansion would
clearly increase the probability that a first response to a mental health crisis includes, when
needed, a team clinician.
Recommendation 15
• Alter functions and responsibilities of MEU to provide administrative support for
specialized responses.
Currently, the primary functions handled by MEU are: (1) triage screening for SMART
deployment and (2) maintaining records of 5150 WIC calls. With the proposed two-layer
approach, the CAIT trained officers (CAIT or CAIT-DMH) would be dispatched by
Communications Division. Because generalist-specialist CAIT officers and CAIT-DMH
officers will almost always be in service, there will be no need for a separate departmental
screening or separate consultation as is now provided by the system currently in place with
MEU. This move will eliminate some of the burden currently placed on the detectives for
“after-hours” MEU coverage. It will also allow for more systematic and detailed recording of
5150 WIC incidents as well as other calls involving persons with a mental illness. Having
the calls collected in this way will also facilitate more centralized – and likely more accurate
– monitoring and provide better data to use in strategic planning.
Patrol Officers
Recommendation 16
• Educate field patrol officers about specialized responses.
Building on Recommendation #2 (Philosophy), and #5 and #6 (CAIT Infrastructure), as the
department develops and adopts a unified philosophy and the organizational structure to
implement these changes, it is imperative that field patrol officers are fully educated about
both the philosophy and detail of effective response to persons who have a mental illness.
This is particularly important as changes in policy and procedures and the development of a
new coordinating body are put in place. In departments that have successful specialized
responses (e.g., Memphis) non-specialized officers are aware of these approaches and
encouraged to consult and seek assistance from the specialized officers. This can be
conducted through internal communication devices within the LAPD such as training
bulletins, roll call training and continuing education.

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Curricula and Training
As noted in Recommendation 1, Lodestar advocates that LAPD develop a detailed and longrange implementation plan that addresses system reform regarding police encounters with
individuals in mental crises. A comprehensive training approach is an essential element of that
long-range plan. It requires a strategy that begins with the basic recruit academy training and
continues through annual updates and reinforcement by use of bulletins, roll call and other
supportive venues. The range of training efforts will need to incorporate imparting relevant skills
and approach more than factual knowledge related to mental illness. Given Los Angeles’ vast
geographic area and the Department’s commitment to speedy law enforcement response,
training is required for both generalist and specialist roles for handling these encounters.
The value of this training has impact far beyond actual encounters with those in mental crisis.
Training focusing on skill development and awareness can lead to improved community
relations as well as reduce the risk of violence in any potentially volatile event. Situations such
as domestic disturbances and encounters with persons with developmental disabilities, the
elderly, and the homeless may all require officers to use the same communication and deescalation skills as are recommended for dealing with those in mental crisis. More generally,
training in civil rights and appropriate handling of such calls is an excellent risk management
tool for the LAPD.

Training for Two Responders: Specialized and General
Los Angeles is uniquely positioned for the dual challenge of delivering appropriate and quick
mental crisis response. Given the size of the City, a quick law enforcement response may not
be the most feasible response. Likewise, an ideal response may not be available quickly, given
other field demands. This report’s recommendations recognize that other patrol officers
precede the SMART, CIT or other specially trained responders on most calls. Therefore, a
general knowledge of mental illness, legal issues, communication and verbal de-escalation skills
are proposed as valuable tools for all patrol officers. Regular as well as specialist responders
need training to maximize the appropriateness and safety of mental crisis encounters.
Specialized Response Training
Specialized responder training is experiencing de facto standardization as many jurisdictions
adopt the model used in the Memphis CIT program. Many advocates, including the National
Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), encourage this 40-hour curriculum. NAMI has law
enforcement training as one of its national goals.
In cities that have specially trained responders, most have annual updates or have reported a
flaw in their program if annual continuing education was not built into the program. This
reinforces the idea that training should not be an isolated “one shot” effort.
Other issues are critical to LAPD’s development of specialized response training:
•

Dual Focus Response
Specialized training for mental crisis response allows LAPD to work with other
professionals in designing curricula and training that has a dual focus: law enforcement
and mental health. This joint emphasis both equips officers with increased skills, tactics,

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understanding and resources as well as better serving those citizens in need of mental
crisis care.
•

Updating and Program Adjustments
LAPD’s pilot CIT program has developed an excellent training agenda that follows a
format similar to the Memphis program. If, as recommended, the Department
implements a modified CIT program across different divisions, it will have more officers
trained and more feedback to incorporate into program improvements, which will result
in the need for annual updates and adjustments to training.

•

Practical Training/Encounters
Officers who attend specialized training have an opportunity to meet face-to-face with
persons with mental illnesses. (Officers frequently report that they are as fearful of a
psychotic individual as the psychotic individual may be of the officers.) Officers are able to
visit a day treatment or drop-in center, where they hear first-hand what it is like to have
delusions or hallucinations, why patients often stop taking their medications, and stories of
past good and bad experiences with law enforcement. A 40-hour training allows time for
not only persons with mental illnesses but their family members as well to share their
perspectives and concerns, an equally poignant and useful training experience for officers.

General Response Training: All Field Officers
The American Bar Association Criminal Justice Mental Health Standards called for all agencies
to provide specialized training to their personnel “to assist them in identifying and responding to
incidents involving the mentally ill or mentally retarded persons.” There are no established
guidelines for the number of hours of training but a model that has been well received is one
developed by the New York Department of Mental Health. It is an 8-hour curriculum.

Curricula Content
Time limitations have severely limited the content and delivery of existing LAPD training in
preparing patrol officers for mental illness crisis encounters. In addressing this issue and
designing a long-range training plan, specific attention should be directed to training content
issues that are widely recognized within law enforcement and mental health as critical to serving
this population and providing officer safety. Specifically:
•

Generalists vs. Specialist Trainers
LAPD has internal resources that should be used to enhance mental crisis encounter
training. This includes individuals from Behavioral Science Services, SMART, MEU,
among others. In addition, community resources should be utilized. Instructors should
have more than book knowledge of mental illness. This is where community mental
health providers may be utilized. Behavioral Science Services could be better utilized in
planning, curriculum development and instruction.

•

Lecture vs. Contact/Scenario Training
Didactic training on terminology of mental illness and, likely symptoms that the officer will
observe, is necessary. However, this lecture method of training is not sufficient in itself.
Two other components are recommended: opportunities for exposure to persons with
mental illnesses, and scenario training for skill building. Time factors have limited the
extent to which recruit training has been able to utilize these activities.

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•

Utilizing a Variety of Techniques
Training scenarios are valuable to teach techniques and allow the officer to practice
communication and intervention skills. Although role-play may be the better method for
many of these learning opportunities, video vignettes may be another choice. These are
valuable when the training is severely time limited. General trainers also may use
vignettes whereas only a skilled and experienced leader should lead a role-play.

•

Problem-Solving Approaches
Expanded problem solving training should occur at various points along the continuum of
verbal interventions through use of force. This type of instruction requires field
experienced tactic training officers. Although the mental health professional may assist,
the officer-trainer best teaches this. The trainee will be most responsive if the instructor
emphasizes officer safety and the provision of new tools to be used when intervening
with a person experiencing a mental illness.

Specific recommendations related to curricula and training are outlined below.

Specialized Response: CAIT and CAIT-DMH
Recommendation 17
• Provide mandatory specialized and continuing education training for CAIT officers.
All CAIT officers must successfully complete the specialist training prior to receiving a CAIT
designation or providing specialized response to calls. All CAIT officers – the generalistspecialists and those who co-respond with DMH – should receive advanced, intensive
training of at least 40 contact hours. Continuing education relevant to encounters involving
person with a mental illness should be required for CAIT-trained officers at least twice every
year (similar to Portland’s CIT Program). Training updates should include, among other
things, information about any new legislation that may affect policies and procedures.
Recommendation 18
• Include additional information on community supports in CAIT training.
Current officer training does not include information about community support agencies
other than a listing of hospitals. This information would be useful for CAIT officers when
dealing with a person who does not meet criteria for protective custody but would benefit
from being directed to services in the community. Relevant community service providers
should be contacted and asked to present concise written information and a brief verbal
description of their programs during CAIT training. Their participation in training should also
strengthen partnerships with community agencies (see Recommendation 4). It is imperative
that community support information is updated consistently to avoid misinformation and
unusable contacts.
Recommendation 19
• Include consumer, family and advocate perspe ctives in CAIT training.
Nationally, many law enforcement agencies have incorporated some level of new training for
responding to calls involving persons with a mental illness. Almost without exception, these
agencies report that hearing presentations by mental health consumers (persons with a mental
illness) and family members has had the most impact on officers and their attitude towards
assisting this segment of the community. Visiting treatment facilities also increases officers’

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understanding of what actually occurs in mental health treatment programs. This contact also
helps to dispel myths and misconceptions that officers may have about mental health
consumers and vice versa.
The curriculum developed for the CIT pilot (based on the Albuquerque and Memphis
curricula) includes lectures from several persons who have a mental illness and who were
previously homeless. Central Bureau, the area in which CIT was piloted, contains a high
number of homeless persons with a mental illness, and often there is no family involved in
calls or encounters. The inclusion of family members in training may need to be modified by
division in response to their availability.
Recommendation 20
• Integrate and provide all training for mental illness response under CAIT.
The CAIT Coordinator should assume agency-wide leadership for developing, monitoring and
updating curricula and training related to police responses to persons with a mental illness,
whether specialized training for CAIT officers or topical training for general patrol (see
Recommendations 23-27, below). The content of the curriculum developed by personnel in
Central Bureau for the CIT pilot program provides an excellent model for CAIT officer training. It
is recommended that the CAIT Coordinator have the curriculum – including practical exercises
and scenarios – reviewed by SWAT, Use of Force Instructors, and other tactical specialists
within the agency, in conjunction with the Director of Training, so that special tactical
considerations and officer safety are emphasized and integrated into CAIT officer training.
Outside specialists and other departments that use special tactics for these encounters should
also be consulted. These units and specialists should also be consulted in the development of
training in these topics for patrol officers generally.
Recommendation 21
• Include Communications Division in the development of training curriculum.
Special services such as the EBOs and Dispatchers are sometimes left out of the development
of training programs in other departments. Their input, like that of other units (see
Recommendation 19), is vital to ensure that patrol and CAIT officers are provided with
information that they need in order to respond appropriately to calls involving persons with a
mental illness. Including their advice regarding techniques for de-escalating an agitated or
excited person, for example, would be valuable for the police service representatives in
telephone triage. In general, their input into the development, review and revision of such
curriculum is important.
Recommendation 22
• Enhance Communications training to facilitate better initial identification of calls.
Because the proposed approach emphasizes having a specialized responder as the first
responder, the Communications Center should be asked to make reasonable efforts to screen
for and identify callers where the subject may have a mental illness. Feedback from officers,
command staff, EBOs and Dispatchers makes it clear that many calls involving persons with a
mental illness are not dispatched initially as “mental” calls. Not all cases are identifiable from a
911 call, but knowing at the time of the call that a subject may have a mental illness will help to
facilitate deployment of a specialist responder and provide all responding officers with relevant
information about the call. It may be that Communication Center personnel could be provided
with standard questions that help to identify cases that involve persons with a mental illness and
with follow-up questions if a mental illness is suspected. For example, in calls involving
disorderly or disruptive conduct, particularly where the subject’s conduct may be menacing, the
EBO might routinely ask “Do you know whether the person has any history of mental or

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emotional problems?” Follow-up queries might target issues such as medication or
hospitalization.

Patrol Officers
CAIT (i.e., CIT and SMART) officers would be trained as “specialists” even though they may
continue to be assigned as a generalist (as demonstrated in the Memphis model). The following
recommendations for training patrol officers on issues related to mental illness should not be
contingent on the development of specialist training. In addition, recommendations for patrol
officer training in this area apply across all divisions.
Recommendation 23
• Focus curricula and training for patrol officers on 1) a wide range of field tactics, and
2) practical, problem-based scenarios.
Emphasize tactics that may differ when encountering an individual with a mental
illness.
Tactics emphasizing and integrating verbal de-escalation with use of force requires revision
in both curricula and policies. The here emphasis should be placed on didactic training and
on using other training venues and media such as roll call and bulletins.
Use more problem-based material during training.
Didactic education is appropriate for some material. However, most training must be
problem-based and actually practiced by officers using monitored scenarios. It is important
that officers have the facts and also understand the concepts and how to apply them in field
encounters. The officer, when facing a unique situation, must be able to apply the learning
to respond to and complete the encounter in a safe, appropriate and helpful manner. Many
of the existing training documents should be revamped and some replaced completely with
more problem-solving oriented material.
Recommendation 24
• Conduct initial agency-wide training for all patrol officers on managing encounters.
LAPD’s substantial change to training related to responding to calls involving persons with a
mental illness should begin with brief training for all patrol personnel to: (1) communicate
the agency’s philosophy; (2) educate them about the new structure of specialized response;
(3) provide an update on identifying and assessing features of mental illness in field
encounters; and (4) deliver and practice techniques for integrating officer safety with verbal
de-escalation.
Ideally, an initial training covering these topics for all patrol personnel should be a full day of
training. It should be mandated to occur within the next 18 to 36 months. However, it is
recognized that it may not be possible to dedicate eight new hours to this topic. Some
efficiency can be gained in that elements of the recommended curriculum overlap with training
on interactions with other population groups (e.g. domestic violence, mental retardation,
general emotional disturbances). Training in the topics of communication, verbal deescalation, ADA and client rights provide tools for a variety of situations and populations (see
Appendix O for more details).

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Recommendation 25
• Expand external and internal expertise used in developing curricula and instruction.
Utilize external subject matter experts, coordinated through the Professional Advisory
Committee, to plan new curricula.
Input from community stakeholders should be included in development of the themes for
the training package (see, also Recommendations 18 and 19). This can enhance public
relations as well as help focus the training package on local concerns. The actual
development of the curricula and lesson plans should be left to the subject matter
experts and any material affecting tactics and officer safety are subject to department
review. This may require at least 120 hours by a consultant to develop, implement and
train personnel to provide the new curricula.
Use existing resources within the Department to assist in the development and instruction of
training material.
In particular, BSS and CAIT should do more than review and place a stamp of approval
on new lesson plans. They should be utilized more frequently in the writing of curricula
and in its delivery. CAIT should have significant input into the development of future
LAPD mental health training scenarios, both for new CAIT officers and for recruits and
annual training materials (see Recommendation 19, above). They will see first hand the
types of incidents that happen and have the experience to deal with them. This
expertise should be captured and shared.
Supplement current instructors with persons who have experience with encounters with
persons with a mental illness.
As with training for CAIT officers, the training team for patrol generally should include
community providers, consumers and family members of persons with a mental illness.
This is not to replace but to supplement training by officer-trainers. Outside trainers-oftrainers may be utilized to better prepare employed training staff to assume more
responsibility in the future.
All instructors (officer and non-officers) must be knowledgeable, experienced and
dedicated to the topic. Instructors assigned in special areas should be screened and
selected for expertise in communication and verbal de-escalation tactics.
Recommendation 26
• Increase exposure to mental crisis response in basic recruit training.
The total amount of training that gives attention to mental illness is currently only a small
portion of the 6-hour training related to persons with disabilities. LAPD recruit instructors
repeatedly reported that they were unable to include community and LAPD resources
because of time considerations. In order to improve training by incorporating experts and
additional instructors for topics related to mental illness, as suggested earlier, an increase
from 6 hours to 10 hours is recommended.

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Recommendation 27
• Identify verbal de-escalation techniques appropriate for use with individuals in mental
crises; integrate these techniques into mental crisis scenarios for inclusion in use of
force training.
By identifying and integrating verbal de-escalation techniques into situations involving
mental crises, police officers have a greater skill set from which to draw (see, also,
Recommendation 21). Current training in the force continuum appears to emphasize the
issuance of directives and commands at the initial stage. While these often are appropriate
techniques, they differ significantly from the approach of crisis negotiation or de-escalation.
It is proposed that greater emphasis be placed on interactive verbal techniques and deescalation strategies in the context of other use of force training. De-escalation should be
understood as part of the “verbal” point on the force continuum and as a strategy for subject
control.

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Use of Force
Categorical use of force documentation provided for this evaluation contained a narrative
summary of the incident that was completed by the CIID for review by the Police Commission.
Incidents were identified by CIID personnel not through record identifiers but based on memory
of the incident. Conclusions about LAPD response to persons with a mental illness, and their
implications for system reform, would be inappropriate based on this sample and on the limited
information contained in the narrative summary. Recommendations and rationales for improved
data collection and for further review of both categorical and non-categorical use of force
incidents are offered below.
Recommendation 28
• Re-structure Categorical Use of Force documentation.
Agency documentation of Categorical Uses of Force should require a designation of
whether the subject was known or suspected to have a mental illness and whether that fact
was known before or only after the force occurred. This will permit better tracking of more
serious cases of force used in encounters with subjects suspected of having a mental
illness. It is also recommended that this documentation – at least for cases involving
subjects suspected to have a mental illness – be structured more like the required forms for
non-categorical use of force. This would allow for a more useful analysis of encounters than
is possible using information in current categorical use of force documents. In addition, the
revised form should contain a detailed account of the approach and early features of the
encounter, including the verbal interaction between officer and subject. Currently, many
reports state simply that the officer attempted to “verbalize” with the subject. It would be
more useful for improving future encounters to know more precisely what the officer said
and how the subject responded. It would also be instructive to determine what the officer
perceived to be the immediate precipitant of the subject’s aggressive action. If deadly force
is used, the officer should document not only the justification for that action but the reasons
why any lesser, more intermediate action was not appropriate.
Recommendation 29
• Review the LAPD’s Non-Categorical Use of Force reports to further inform training.
Over the past 3 years, the LAPD has collected approximately 300-500 non-categorical use
of force reports involving officers’ responses to mental crises. These reports were not
reviewed in this research. A study of non-categorical incidents could provide specific
information and insight as to effective means of limiting force in these police encounters. To
the extent to which effective behaviors and tactics used by field officers can be identified in
these reports, curricula writers and trainers could use that information to develop targeted
and realistic training. Identifying situations and tactics used by field officers to de-escalate
potentially lethal force would allow trainers to teach these skills and replicate actual
encounters in their scenario trainings.

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COSTS AND BENEFITS OF
RECOMMENDATIONS
This section presents a general assessment of costs and staffing associated with each of the
report’s recommendations. It also offers an implementation schedule and presents benefits and
effectiveness criteria associated with implementing the recommendations.

KEY ASSUMPTIONS AND COMPUTATIONS
Listed below are the key assumptions used in determining staffing and costs. Detailed
computations for those recommendations requiring new costs to the City are included under
Appendix N.
The following are key assumptions used by Lodestar:
•

City Input on Fiscal Costs. Lodestar staff consulted with representatives from
both the LAPD’s Fiscal Operations Division and City of Los Angeles’ Office of the
City Administrative Officer. This included a senior management analyst II from the
LAPD’s Fiscal Operations Division and a senior administrative analyst II from the
Office of the City Administrative Officer. These individuals provided direction to
Lodestar in terms of salary and equipment costs used in developing the 2002/03
LAPD budget. In addition, they provided information as to the Department’s
existing resources to assist in determining when costs would be “new” or could
potentially be absorbed under existing LAPD resources.

•

Limited to New Costs. The cost information is limited to new costs to the City in
implementing the recommendations. In situations where LAPD staff members are
currently assigned, the cost of these individuals’ participation in Lodestar’s
recommendations is not shown. Likewise, when personnel are assigned new or
realigned tasks (that are not perceived as a major increase in work load) these are
not shown as new cost items. Personnel costs are based on the budget increase of
new positions.

•

Three Categories of Costs. The costs are broken into three categories: year one
(2002/3) cost; on-going annual cost; and other costs. Many of the year one costs
do not carry over to year two, year three, etc. Examples of such expenditures
would be new cars, office computers, etc. The “shelf life” of these items exceeds
one year but the fiscal procedures for budgeting within the City require that the
entire cost be shown in the first year rather than amortized across years. In
addition, there are some recommendations that would have costs outside of the
LAPD or City’s control. The “other costs” category includes the fiscal impact on
non-LAPD organizations (e.g., the County of Los Angeles).

•

Use of Existing Resources. Many of the recommendations call for the use of existing
resources within LAPD. The Department has in-place extensive training programs,
communication systems and organizational structures. Recommendations related to

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training, communicating, and organizing are given with the assumption that the existing
systems be utilized and not replaced.
•

Absorption of Costs. Based on input from LAPD and City personnel, many of
Lodestar’s recommendations “can be absorbed within existing resources.” This
phrase was recommended to Lodestar for use in describing the cost of
recommendations that did not appear to require new staff or equipment. Many of
Lodestar’s recommendations require the use of existing resources, e.g., facilities,
personnel, documentation systems, continuing education programs, training
curricula, etc. Because the LAPD has already budgeted for these items (based on
information from the City and LAPD) Lodestar has not designed these as new
costs.

The Costs of “No Cost” Recommendations
Two final assumptions are particularly critical to understanding Lodestar’s specific concerns in
outlining the “costs” of any recommendations:
•

Level of Effort. While many recommendations are presented as “can be absorbed
within existing costs,” this is by no means an indication of an insignificant level of
effort required of the LAPD. Lodestar anticipates that the recommendations
outlined below will require a high prioritization and focused commitment of
Department resources.

•

Opportunity Costs. Given that there are on-going, competing and changing
interests within the Department for training, staffing and other resources, a “no cost”
item is truly not reflective of either the level of effort required or opportunity costs to
LAPD. Lodestar recognizes that a recommendation to increase recruit
training hours or expand patrol officer training may require significant
tradeoffs and these, in fact, are additional costs to LAPD. The City and LAPD
will of course need to continually re-examine and re-estimate the costs associated
with changing priorities and opportunities.

Implementation Schedule: Specific Considerations
It should be noted that the implementation schedule outlined by Lodestar creates
several challenges. Among these are:
•

Need for an LAPD-generate d Long-Range Implementation Plan. No true
implementation schedule can be developed without a knowledge of the specific
recommendations that are to be adopted and their priority within LAPD.
Lodestar’s Implementation Plan/Timeline (see Figure 3) is one approach to
scheduling these activities. However, Lodestar’s Recommendation 1 states that
the LAPD should adopt and prioritize recommendations and develop a longrange implementation plan, including a detailed timeline.

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•

Implementation Schedule Is an Estimation. Lodestar does not have
information regarding the existing planning and activities competing for LAPD
resources.

•

Months Refer to Activity Duration – Activities Are Scheduled for Different
Start Times. Durations are estimated independently for each individual
recommendation. The scheduling of start times, however, reflects assumed
interdependencies among individual recommendations and sets of
recommendations. For example, certain organizational changes will necessarily
precede implementing certain mental crisis response recommendations. Actual
start times are assumed to be related to any number of other contingencies,
including those identified in the LAPD Long-Range Implementation Plan
mentioned above.

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Figure 3

Recommendations' Implementation Plan/Timeline
Rec. #

RECOMMENDATION

Organizational Priorities and Planning
1

Identify/prioritize recommendations; develop long-range plan

2

Develop a department-wide philosophy statement

3

Change language in written policies and training.

4

Develop community partnerships.

Organizational Infrastructure
5

Centralize authority for mental crises response programs

6

Identify/assign a lead officer to serve as coordinator

7

Document CAIT calls by completing an incident log

8

Create a single, integrated database for calls

9

Clarify policies for involuntary psychiatric holds

10

Revise the MOU with DMH regarding confidential material

Mental Crisis Response
11

Prioritize specialized response as first responders

12

Increase the number of first responding officers

13

Develop a system to identify/dispatch CAIT officers

14

Expand CAIT-DMH personnel to 24-hour daily coverage

15

Alter functions and responsibilities of MEU

16

Educate field patrol officers about specialized responses

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

Figure 3

Recommendations' Implementation Plan/Timeline
RECOMMENDATION

Rec. #

Curricula and Training
17

Provide specialized and continuing education for CAIT

18

Include information on community supports in CAIT training

19

Include consumer, family, advocate perspectives in training

20

Integrate and centralize training under CAIT coordinator

21

Include Comm. Div. in curriculum, policies, procedures

22

Enhance training to better identify mental crisis calls

23

Focus on practical encounters with mental crises

24

Conduct initial agency-wide training for all patrol officers

25

Expand external/internal expertise in curricula/instruction

26

Increase exposure to mental crises response training

27

Integrate verbal de-escalation techniques into training

Use of Force
28

Re-structure Categorical Use of Force documentation

29

Review the LAPD’s Non-Categorical Use of Force reports

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

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Costs and Implementation Schedule: Additional Considerations
In adequately addressing questions related to the cost of recommendations, it is critical to
examine the issue of implementation timeline. The following must be considered:
•

Lodestar’s Implementation Plan/Timeline presented in Figure 3 is intended to spread
costs and tasks across various calendar quarters. Many of the recommendations are
completed prior to others’ targeted start period. The timeline can be further adjusted
to accommodate fiscal and calendar constraints identified by LAPD.

•

Not all periods of implementation will require the same degree of concerted effort.
Thus, periods of planning/design/piloting may require more intensive resources
(budget and time) than during the “maintenance” phases. Likewise, the number of
officers participating in training and the frequencies of training will be determined by
LAPD, thus directly impacting budgeting.

•

Since Recommendation 1 requires LAPD to identify and prioritize the
recommendations to be adopted, precise budget and calendaring information cannot
be determined until that time. Many of the individual recommendations are identified
as having no new costs, or that their costs can be absorbed within existing resources.
As a part of Recommendation 1, LAPD staff are asked to develop a detailed timeline
and budget. Depending upon the number of recommendations adopted and
their scheduling, costs may exceed existing resources. Until scheduling is
determined and an understanding of the cumulative effects of the number of
recommendations underway, Lodestar and LAPD cannot determine if and/or
when the critical point is reached where the demand for resources outstrips the
supply.

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: ORGANIZATIONAL PRIORITIES AND PLANNING
Recommendation 1
Identify and prioritize Lodestar recommendations to be adopted; develop a detailed and longrange implementation plan (including budget and timeline) for adopted recommendations that
addresses system reform regarding police encounters with individuals who may have a mental
illness.
The recommendations that follow provide a comprehensive and coherent approach to reform
regarding police encounters involving mental health crises. However, the LAPD should determine
which recommendations, or their adaptations, are to be adopted and their respective priorities. In
addition, the Department must develop a detailed implementation plan that will take into consideration
existing LAPD priorities as well as staffing, calendaring, and fiscal opportunities and constraints. This
detailed implementation plan should cover a period of three to five years. Sections of the plan should
address issues such as: planning process; measurable objectives and outcomes; organizational
infrastructure; community outreach; staffing and reporting; curricula and training; data collection and
dissemination; incentives and recognition; auditing and evaluation, and other areas identified as critical
by LAPD. The plan should be the product of a broad-based work group. The plan should be reviewed
and revised on an annual basis.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Can be absorbed within existing
resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•

Provides a comprehensive, coordinated and orderly process of implementing LAPD changes in
addressing citizen’s mental crises

•

Aligns mental crises priorities with other LAPD priorities

•

Identifies, budgets and calendars specific activities based on priorities and resource constraints

•

Decreases the likelihood that consumers, families and advocates will view the police as hostile,
aggressive, condescending, or indifferent to persons with mental illness

•

Increases the awareness of field officers to the need for respect toward all City residents

•

Demonstrates the LAPD’s priority of respectful behavior toward specific consumers, families
and advocates

•

Decreases the likelihood of complaints from citizens

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Implementation Schedule
Plan should be developed by a broad base of LAPD personnel, refined by the Management Services
Division, and approved by the Chief and Police Commission
Develop of adopted recommendations and priorities – Less than 3 months
Development of detailed implementation plan – Less than 9 months
Review and dissemination of detailed dissemination plan – Less than 12 months (on-going thereafter)
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•
•
•
•
•

Development and adoption of the recommendations and priorities by LAPD Chief and
Commission
Identification of broad based workgroup with specific assignments and deadlines
Approval of written plan, budgeting, and calendaring by LAPD Chief and Commission
Evidence of dissemination and integration of plan into LAPD operations
Evidence of dissemination of plan and activities reflected in LAPD bulletins, communiqués,
newsletters, recruiting materials, and other internal and external documents

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: ORGANIZATIONAL PRIORITIES AND PLANNING
Recommendation 2
Develop a department-wide philosophy statement about handling encounters that involve a
person with a mental illness.
Changing the way line patrol officers respond to encounters involving persons with a mental illness
must begin with a clear and consistent message from departmental leaders and command staff about
the attitude, general intent and specific objective of LAPD’s response to this population. The
recommendation to develop a “philosophy statement” is intended to promote clarity, uniformity and
commitment in the message that command staff and supervisors provide to personnel. The entire
department’s commitment to reducing the potential for violence in these encounters – however it is
specified in that statement – should be put forth immediately and visibly. While people may differ
privately about the value or nuances of the philosophy, it is imperative that not just its content but its
spirit be supported and communicated uniformly and without reservation. It is strongly recommended
that internal stakeholders and staff, particularly those who have participated in LAPD’s specialized
responses, develop this statement.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Can be absorbed within existing
resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•
•
•
•
•

Decreases the likelihood that consumers, families and advocates will view the police as hostile,
aggressive, condescending, or indifferent to persons with mental illness
Increases the awareness of field officers to the need for respect toward all City residents
Demonstrates the LAPD’s priority of respectful behavior toward specific consumers, families
and advocates
Aligns respectful language with respectful behavior
Decreases the likelihood of complaints from citizens

Implementation Schedule
Statement should be developed by CAIT , refined by the Management Services Division, and approved
by the Chief and Police Commission
Develop of statement – Less than 3 months
Dissemination of statement and supporting information – 6 months (on-going thereafter)
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•

Development and adoption of the statement by LAPD Chief and Commission

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Dissemination and integration of philosophy in training curricula, scenarios and critiques
Dissemination of philosophy and supporting ideology via LAPD bulletins, communiqués,
newsletters, recruiting materials, and other internal and external documents

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: ORGANIZATIONAL PRIORITIES AND PLANNING
Recommendation 3
Change language in written policies and training.
Some of the language in LAPD documents currently used to refer to people with mental illness is
inconsistent with the stated preferences of the population to which it refers. The national trend for
nearly 10 years in referring to persons who have a disability (including a mental disability) has been to
use “people first” language (e.g., “persons with a mental illness”). While this usage may, at times,
seem somewhat cumbersome, it has substantial symbolic importance and communicates respect and
sensitivity, while minimizing stigma and pejorative connotations. The change should apply to written
and verbal communications – particularly in training and outside the agency. For example, instead of
“mental” (918) as a phrase used to describe calls involving a person suspected of having a mental
illness, refer to these calls as “mental health crisis” calls. Other descriptive characteristics (e.g., male
or violent) are still acceptable and necessary descriptors for appropriate police response.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Can be absorbed within existing
resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•

Increases the awareness of field officers to the need for respect toward all City residents

•

Demonstrates the LAPD’s priority of respectful behavior toward specific consumers, families
and advocates

•

Aligns respectful language with respectful behavior

•

Decreases the likelihood that consumers, families and advocates will view the police as hostile,
aggressive, condescending, or indifferent to persons with mental illness

•

Decreases the likelihood of complaints from citizens

Implementation Schedule
Review of existing documents/communications for language – Less than 6 months
Revise and disseminate documents/communications – 9 to 12 months
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•

Review of LAPD training materials, including curricula, for appropriate language

•

Review of LAPD communiqués, including bulletins, roll call announcements, reports, manuals,
policies, etc., for appropriate language

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•

Review of written documentation/reports from field officers for appropriate language

•

Review of radio dispatch calls for appropriate language

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: ORGANIZATIONAL PRIORITIES AND PLANNING
Recommendation 4
Develop specialized community partnerships.
As part of improving the agency’s community image and its relationships with persons with a mental
illness, their families and advocates, it is essential to further develop and maintain partnerships
between the LAPD and relevant community groups at both city-wide and division levels. The key is to
develop relationships specifically for this purpose and thereby establish lines of communication that
can improve responsiveness to the community before a crisis occurs. Successful programs in other
jurisdictions have active, ongoing collaborations with agencies such as the local chapters of the
Alliance for the Mentally Ill (AMI), Mental Health Association, and the local mental health services
authority. A critical element in ensuring the success of this recommendation is to assign a senior
ranking member of the command staff to serve as top liaison to the mental health community, and
someone in each division as well, who can assume responsibility for communicating with key groups
when, and before, community concerns arise. As is always true in community policing, effective
partnerships require regular meetings, good working relationships, ready disclosure of information and
a joint commitment to preventing negative outcomes.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Can be absorbed within existing
resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•
•
•
•
•

Increases the coordination of public, private and not-for-profit resources focusing on services
and safety issues related to persons with mental illness
Establishes alliances and collaborations prior to a crisis situation
Increases understanding among all parties of the needs and specialized roles of law
enforcement, health care systems, social services, advocacy groups, etc.
Decreases the likelihood that consumers, families and advocates will view the police as hostile,
aggressive, condescending or indifferent to persons with mental illness
Decreases the likelihood of complaints from citizens

Implementation Schedule
Develop goals, effectiveness criteria and workplan for developing partnerships – Less than 6 months
Identify and develop partnerships – Less than 18 months (and on-going)
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•
•
•

Evidence of written goals, effectiveness criteria, and workplan for developing partnerships
Attendance at meetings, seminars, conferences related to community mental health concerns
Inclusion of details of partnership assignments in performance review of LAPD personnel

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responsible for implementing workplan
Evidence of true partnership activities – consultations, referrals, information sharing, etc.

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: ORGANIZATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Recommendation 5
Centralize authority for all LAPD specialized response programs for persons with a mental
illness under the auspices of a single entity.
Several distinct units providing specialized responses for calls involving persons with a mental illness
currently exist within LAPD (i.e., SMART, MEU and the CIT pilot). For efficiency of response and
communication, it would be beneficial if administrative authority for these programs were combined.
For the purpose of this report, this suggested coordinating entity – and overall rubric for specialized
response – will be referred to as the Crisis Assessment and Intervention Team (CAIT) 17. LAPD is
encouraged to develop and adopt their own name for the coordinating body to demonstrate ownership
and a commitment to change. Under whatever name is adopted, CAIT would provide uniformity to
specialized responses currently used by LAPD, unite these programs, coordinate their functions and,
agency-wide, provide a common moniker and philosophy. The commanding officer (with Staff
responsibility per section 2/030.50) would lead the team and ensure that the various responses would
work together to provide comprehensive and appropriate responses (see Figure 1 for the
organizational structure).
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Can be absorbed within existing
resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•
•
•

Increased coordination of LAPD activities/functions
Single LAPD internal entity and identity for handing mental illness crises
Increased coordination of data collection and specialized training

Implementation Schedule
Centralization of functions – Less than 3 months
Dissemination of information, news or feature articles – Less than 6 months
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•
•
•
•

Evidence of a written plan outlining the unit’s objectives, structure, responsibilities, operational
procedures, strategic plan and evaluation criteria
Evidence of effective consolidation and centralization of all functions, including files,
geographic proximity, work meetings, etc.
Documentation of work meetings involving existing SMART, MEU and CIT personnel and
functions
Dissemination of announcements and information related to the centralized unit

17

Thus, SMART teams would be referred to as CAIT-DMH teams, MEU personnel would become CAIT
personnel, and officers currently identified as CIT would be identified as CAIT officers.

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Dissemination of news or feature articles in LAPD publications discussing the unit’s purpose,
functions, responsibilities, coordination, etc.

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: ORGANIZATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Recommendation 6
Assign a dedicated lead officer to coordinate CAIT.
The CAIT coordinator should handle functions similar to those of a CIT Coordinator. The Coordinator
(with functional responsibility, per 2/030.10) would oversee the documentation of calls involving
persons with a mental illness, data collection for internal record-keeping and for program evaluation
purposes, and continuing education training for CAIT officers and personnel. The Coordinator would
also manage the operations of CAIT officers paired with DMH clinicians. The Coordinator should also
monitor the training of specialized officers and review encounters by evaluating data collected by
CAIT.
The selection of an appropriate CAIT Coordinator will be critical. Based on an analysis of specialized
programs in other cities, the Coordinator must be an officer who is respected and readily recognized
as a leader among her/his peers. The Coordinator should be known by others to possess exceptional
interpersonal skills and a sound knowledge of tactics and officer safety.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
One new position:
Staff cost:
Car

Lieutenant II

Staff cost:

$113,798**

Other Costs
None

$108,379*
$26,537

Office computers:
TOTAL:

On-going Annual Cost

$2,030

** Assumes a 5 percent increase in staff
costs over 2002/3. These are direct salary
costs and do not include benefits.

$136,946

* These are direct salary costs and do not include
benefits

Benefits to the City
•

Specific responsibility and accountability assigned to an identified LAPD officer

•

Knowledgeable leader represents LAPD both internally and externally on issues related to
persons with mental illness

•

Visible LAPD leadership focuses on key community concern and constituency

•

Increases coordination of existing and expanded LAPD activities

•

Demonstrates the LAPD’s priority of respectful behavior toward specific consumers, families
and advocates

Implementation Schedule
Designation of individual to serve as lead officer – Less than 3 months

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Dissemination of information internally and externally – Less than 6 months (see Recommendations 1,
2 and 16)

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Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•

Appropriate incentives in place by LAPD to attract and retain outstanding leadership

•

Evidence that assignment is regarded as a “coveted position” by LAPD officers

•

Revised and/or expanded responsibilities and qualifications of position outlined in writing

•

Individual identified and assigned

•

Dissemination of information both internally and externally identifying lead officer

•

Performance review of lead officer includes measures related to supervision of CAIT and
relations with external constituencies involved in working with persons with mental illness

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: ORGANIZATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Recommendation 7
Document CAIT calls with an incident log.
CAIT officers should complete a CAIT contact sheet for all encounters involving persons with a mental
illness and this information should be entered regularly into an information database that is accessible
to CAIT personnel. An incident form developed by CIT in Central Bureau contains detailed information
about the encounter and the mental status of the subject. A sample form is included in Appendix M,
which includes a place to document any use of force. The recommended CAIT contact forms will be
easy to complete so as not to contribute to the burden of paperwork, and they can be used for
operational analysis, planning and program evaluation. This form can be supplemented with items on
data forms that SMART clinicians use for recording encounters. The form should be modified to
contain data the CAIT coordinator determines is important in reviewing CAIT functions and
effectiveness.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Can be absorbed within existing
resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•

Provides specific documentation related to LAPD encounters with individuals with mental
illness, including subject behavior, details of encounter and final disposition of call

•

Data can be used to inform officer training as well as community organizations as to trends and
patterns of law enforcement encounters with persons with mental illness

•

Increases accountability of CAIT officers and program

•

Provides written documentation that may limit City’s liability in case of litigation

Implementation Schedule
Develop and field test incident log – Less than 3 months
Training and utilize officers on incident log – Less than 6 months
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•

Evidence of development and field testing of incident log

•

Evidence of training of officers on use of incident log

•

Review of incident logs for completeness, clarity, and level of detail

•

Review of summary data from incident logs

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: ORGANIZATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Recommendation 8
Create a single, integrated database for encounters with all specialized responses..
Currently, LAPD maintains minimal information on 5150 WIC calls and other incidents involving
persons with a mental illness as recorded by MEU. DMH clinicians who co-respond with LAPD
officers (currently, SMART) record much more detailed information about these encounters although
these accounts reflect only the cause and outcome of encounters, not officer behavior. The proposed
database should include details of the encounter but not intrude on “clinical” information that would be
considered by DMH to be confidential. The purpose of this database would be to allow for an analysis
of the process and outcomes of these encounters.
Officers in the CIT pilot program gather detailed information about each encounter involving a person
suspected of having a mental illness. CIT and SMART should jointly record information from these
encounters in a single database that is accessible to personnel from both programs, and use a similar
incident log, as referenced above. Information provided by these logs could be stored electronically in
a database already kept by DMH. Agreement from DMH to access the database must be in place in
order for LAPD to use this tracking system for their own purposes (see Recommendation 10). If
DMH does not wish to alter the agreement, the LAPD should develop their own database so that
adequate tracking of encounters for any specialized response to persons suspected of having a
mental illness can be monitored and reviewed.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Option 1 – Collaboration with DMH in
data collection and sharing: Can be
absorbed within existing resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Option 2 – LAPD develops internal
data collection system: LAPD sources
were unable to provide an estimation
without further details.
Benefits to the City
•
•
•
•
•

Provides a centralized and streamlined data collection system
Provides specific documentation related to LAPD encounters with individuals with mental
illness, including subject behavior, details of encounter, and final disposition of call
Data can be used to inform officer training as well as community organizations as to trends and
patterns of law enforcement encounters with persons with mental illness
Provides written documentation that may limit City’s liability in case of litigation
Increases accountability of CAIT officers and program

Implementation Schedule
Option 1: Less than 9 months

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Option 2: Less than 24 months
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•
•
•
•

Evidence of utilization (or development) of an integrated database
Evidence of training of officers on use of database
Review of database for completeness, clarity, and level of detail
Review of summary data and reports available from integrated database

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: ORGANIZATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Recommendation 9
Clarify policies and procedures for involuntary psychiatric holds.
Current policy requires patrol officers to notify MEU if a subject is being placed on a 5150 WIC
(involuntary psychiatric hold). At times, an officer may have to return to the station and wait until a
SMART unit arrives to conduct an additional evaluation. If a SMART unit does not arrive within a
reasonable period, officers may then transport the subject to a psychiatric receiving facility. SMART
units can transport persons in need of hospitalization directly to the nearest psychiatric facility.
With the two-layer approach that is proposed, the time-consuming interim step of returning to the
station would be eliminated for specially trained patrol officers (CAIT). Policies should be modified to
allow CAIT officers to transport subjects directly to a psychiatric receiving facility in order to speed
assistance to subjects in crisis. CAIT officers would notify the coordinating center of the hold by
completing an incident log that is forwarded to the CAIT coordinator for review and recording. CAITDMH officers would follow the current procedures that SMART units follow in addition to completing an
incident log that is forwarded to the CAIT coordinator.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Should result in a cost savings to the
LAPD

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•
•
•
•
•

Provides prompter mental health services to individuals with mental illness
Increases the rate at which officers can return to other police duties
Lessens the amount of time officers will spend on 5150 incidents
Lessens the workload of the watch commander
Lessens the workload of specialized responders

Implementation Schedule
Based upon status of the Consent Decree – (Estimation) – Less than 24 months
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•
•
•
•

Review of LAPD records on the time and disposition of encounters with persons with mental
illness
Review of CAIT first-responder incident logs
Review of written and oral feedback from patrol officers and CAIT officers
Review of systemwide database for appropriate and timely disposition of calls

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: ORGANIZATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Recommendation 10
Revise the Memorandum of Understanding between LAPD and DMH.
Further information sharing between LAPD and DMH will facilitate better and safer responses,
including the proposed integrated database for responses to calls involving a person with mental
illness (see Recommendation 8). A MOU currently exists that allows DMH to share information with
officers from SMART only. However, if, as proposed, SMART functions are subsumed under CAIT,
the MOU may need to be clarified accordingly.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Can be absorbed within existing
resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•
•
•
•
•
•

Redefines data and confidentiality issues between the City and the County
Provides a centralized and streamlined data collection system
Provides specific documentation related to LAPD encounters with individuals with mental
illness, including subject behavior, details of encounter and final disposition of call
Data can be used to inform officer training as well as community organizations as to trends and
patterns of law enforcement encounters with persons with mental illness
Provides written documentation that may limit City’s liability in case of litigation
Increases accountability of CAIT officers and program

Implementation Schedule
Development of MOU - Less than 3 months
Review, revision and agreement of MOU – Less than 9 months
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•
•
•

Evidence of proactive steps toward an altered agreement
Written documentation of a revised MOU
Written agreement as to data access and confidentiality included in MOU

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: MENTAL CRISIS ENCOUNTERS
Recommendation 11
Prioritize specialized response as first responders to calls involving persons with a mental
illness.
Improving the actual police encounter with persons with a mental illness begins with modifying the initial
response. Accordingly, we recommend that LAPD adopt procedures that will maximize the likelihood
that a specially-trained responder will have the initial contact (or at least early contact) with the subject.
This would be accomplished primarily by creating a cadre of generalist/specialist officers who have been
carefully selected for CAIT and have completed intensive, specialized training, similar to that developed
for the LAPD CIT pilot. These CAIT officers would be identifiable to dispatchers in the Communications
Center, who would attempt to direct one of them to any identified mental crisis call. In addition, we
suggest that there be 24-hour/7-day city-wide availability of a co-responding CAIT-DMH team (CAIT
officer and DMH clinician) – much as SMART currently operates, but with expanded coverage. These
co-responding units would primarily provide support for CAIT and other patrol officers and help to
streamline the processing of 5150 cases.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Can be absorbed within existing
resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•

Increases coverage of City’s geographic area due to increased numbers of trained officers

•

Increases specialized coverage with specialized personnel

•

Increases flexibility in responding to both mental crisis and routine radio calls

•

Increases LAPD response to citizens (lessens LAPD dependence on County clinicians)

Implementation Schedule
Adoption of specialized responder approach – Less than 6 months
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•

Development of written job description and advertisements for positions

•

Evidence of appropriate incentives to attract volunteers to CAIT program

•

Evidence that assignment is regarded as a “plum” assignment by LAPD officers

•

Evidence of active recruitment of potential CAIT officers

•

Evidence of proactive coordination of expansion with County of Los Angeles

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: MENTAL CRISIS ENCOUNTERS
Recommendation 12
Increase the number of first responding officers with expertise.
The actions of first responders are pivotal to decreasing the likelihood that mental crisis encounters
quickly become more volatile and potentially violent. Officers trained in special tactics and approaches
to crisis situations involving persons with a mental illness increase the likelihood of appropriate
disposition without a use of force. The proposed two-layered plan for specialized response calls for
training a cadre of generalist-specialist responders. As noted above, the program curriculum used in
the CIT pilot program provides a strong foundation for the policies, procedures and training for such a
response. However, more CAIT officers will be needed. Based on estimates from other jurisdictions,
coverage on all shifts usually can occur when approximately 15-20% of sworn officers assigned to
patrol have been trained. These officers should be drawn from a pool of volunteers and be carefully
screened and selected for the intensive training. To set the proper climate, command staff should
work actively to promote the importance and visibility of CAIT as a high-priority program within LAPD.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost

On-going Annual Cost

Can be absorbed within existing
resources; does not require the hiring of
new personnel

Can be absorbed within existing
resources; does not require the
hiring of new personnel

(Training costs are indicated under
Recommendation 20.)

(Training costs are indicated under
Recommendation 20.)

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•
•
•
•

Increases coverage of City’s geographic area due to increased numbers of trained officers
Increases specialized coverage with specialized personnel
Increases flexibility in responding to both mental crisis and routine radio calls
Increases LAPD response to citizens (lessens LAPD dependence on County clinicians)

Implementation Schedule
Adoption of specialized first-responder approach – Less than 3 months
Identification of officers – Less than 6 months (first cohort); 12 to 48 months (additional cohorts)
Deployment of specialized first-responder officers – Less than 9 months (first cohort)
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•
•
•

Development of written job description and advertisements for positions
Development of incentives that identify training and CAIT assignments as “coveted positions”
and “plum” assignments
Evidence of proactive and aggressive recruitment of volunteers for CAIT program

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Evidence of articles, features, etc. appearing in LAPD internal communications promoting the
CAIT program

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: MENTAL CRISIS ENCOUNTERS
Recommendation 13
Develop a system to identify CAIT officers and dispatch them.
The current dispatch system can not determine whether a specialized officer is in the field. A new dispatch
system is under development and will be in place by April 2003, according to personnel within
Communications Division. The new system will allow for specialized officers who are in the field to be
identified with a special code so that the dispatcher can send that specific unit to a scene that involves
a person with a mental illness. Written policy would need to be altered to reflect this procedural
change. Because a first response is somewhat dependent on the ability to dispatch a specialized
officer, full deployment of CAIT officers division-wide may be delayed until an appropriate dispatch
system is in place.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Can be absorbed within existing
resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Cost s
None

Benefits to the City
•

Provides both more appropriate and quicker responses to mental crises

•

Increases opportunities for specialized first-response teams to handle LAPD encounters with
persons with mental illness

•

Lessens the probability of violent encounters between police officers and persons with mental
illness

Implementation Schedule
Develop specifications as to what is needed in new dispatch system - Less than 3 months
Train staff and utilize new dispatch system – Less than 15 months
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•

Evidence of written specifications requested of new dispatch system

•

Evidence of coordination and collaboration with dispatch system developers

•

Development of training materials for use with new dispatch system

•

Evidence of use of oral feedback from Communications staff on use and functionality of new
dispatch system

•

Review of written evaluations of Communications staff on use of new dispatch system

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: MENTAL CRISIS ENCOUNTERS
Recommendation 14
Expand co-responding CAIT-DMH (SMART) personnel to provide full coverage.
Currently, LAPD deploys co-responding teams – known as SMART – composed of an officer and a
DMH clinician. LAPD was innovative in helping to pioneer this model of specialized response and the
continuation and expansion of this approach is supported. Patrol officers report that co-responding
units are helpful and facilitate connections to DMH. While officers seem satisfied with the quality of
response, many express frustration about long response times or limited availability.
To build on the existing strength of the LAPD’s specialized responses the following is recommended:
(1) provide a more integrated structure by incorporating the co-responding SMART teams in name and
structure under CAIT (see Recommendation #5); (2) expand deployment of co-responding units so
that one or more are in service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This would require more units on
every shift and staffed in each division, resulting in 24 CAIT-DMH units (as reported by a lead SMART
officer). These units would be dispatched similarly to CAIT officers.
Increasing the number of co-responding units would require that DMH supply additional clinicians,
which could be a problem considering the County’s current fiscal and resource constraints. If
additional clinicians were not available, this would not affect the purpose or spirit of the other
recommended changes. The strengths of the other recommendations are not contingent on the
expansion of co-responding teams, though that expansion would clearly increase the probability that a
first response to a mental health crisis includes, when needed, a team clinician.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost

Staff cost:

New positions: 15
13 officers
1 Detective2 (supervisor)
1 clerical/typist
Staff cost:
Cars, vans, equipment
Office computers:
TOTAL:

On-going Annual Cost

$1,021,857*

$1,072,950**

** Assumes a 5 percent increase in staff
costs over 2002/3. These are direct salary
costs and do not include benefits.

Other Costs
Additional costs to
the County of 13
clinicians to work
with SMART units

$341,247
$6,090

$1,369,194

* These are direct salary costs and do not include
benefits

Benefits to the City
•
•
•

Lessens the probability of violent encounters between police officers and individuals who may
experience mental illness
Increases officer safety, providing officers with appropriate tools and tactics
Increases field coverage and service to persons with mental illness

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•

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Increases specialized assistance to field officers
Frees patrol officers to return to other duties

Implementation Schedule
New assignments and training – 6 to 9 months
Full implementation –12 months (and on-going thereafter)
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•

Increases in the number of incidents previously handled by SMART

•

Decreases in the amount of time spent by patrol officers handling mental disturbance calls

•

Evidence of appropriate utilization of de-escalation techniques as well as use of force

•

Fewer citizen complaints associated with these incidents

•

Provides improved and more prompt service to persons with mental illness

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: MENTAL CRISIS ENCOUNTERS
Recommendation 15
Alter functions and responsibilities of MEU to provide administrative support for specialized
responses.
Currently, the primary functions handled by MEU are: (1) triage screening for SMART deployment and
(2) maintaining records of 5150 WIC calls. With the proposed two-layer approach, the CAIT trained
officers (CAIT or CAIT-DMH) would be dispatched by Communications Division. Because generalistspecialist CAIT officers and CAIT-DMH officers will almost always be in service, there will be no need
for a separate departmental screening or separate as is now provided by the system currently in place
with MEU. This move will eliminate some of the burden currently placed on the detectives for “afterhours” MEU coverage. It will also allow for more systematic and detailed recording of 5150 WIC
incidents as well as other calls involving persons with a mental illness. Having the calls collected in
this way will also facilitate more centralized – and likely more accurate – monitoring and provide better
data to use in strategic planning.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Can be absorbed within existing
resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•

Increases coordination of LAPD activities/functions

•

Single LAPD internal entity and identity for handing mental illness crises

•

Increases coordination of data collection and specialized training

Implementation Schedule
Incorporating functions – Less than 9 months
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•

Evidence of effective consolidation and centralization of all functions, including files, data
collection, geographic proximity, work meetings, etc.

•

Documentation of work meetings involving SMART and MEU personnel

•

Dissemination of announcements and information related to the centralized unit

•

Dissemination of news or feature articles in LAPD publications discussing purpose, functions,
responsibilities, coordination, etc. of the unit

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: MENTAL CRISIS ENCOUNTERS
Recommendation 16
Educate field patrol officers about specialized responses.
Building on Recommendation 2 (Philosophy), 5 and 6 (CAIT Infrastructure), as the department
develops and adopts a unified philosophy and the organizational structure to implement these
changes, it is imperative that field patrol officers are fully educated about both the philosophy and
detail of effective response to persons who have a mental illness. This is particularly important as
changes in policy and procedures and the development of a new coordinating body are put in place.
In departments that have successful specialized responses (e.g., Memphis) non-specialized officers
are aware of these approaches and encouraged to consult and seek assistance from the specialized
officers. This can be conducted through internal communication devices within the LAPD such as
training bulletins, roll call training and continuing education.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Can be absorbed within existing
resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•
•
•
•
•
•

Provides a comprehensive, coordinated and orderly process of informing LAPD officers of
changes in addressing citizen’s mental crises
Lessens the probability of violent encounters between police officers and individuals who may
experience mental illness
Increases the awareness of field officers to the need for appropriate response and respect
toward all City residents
Demonstrates the LAPD’s priority of appropriate response and respectful behavior toward
specific consumers, families and advocates
Decreases the likelihood that consumers, families and advocates will view the police as hostile,
aggressive, condescending, or indifferent to persons with mental illness
Decreases the likelihood of complaints from citizens

Implementation Schedule
Work with workgroup undertaking development of detailed implementation plan – Less than 3 months
Develop education/dissemination plan – Less than 6 months
Identify appropriate media/vehicles for dissemination – Less than 6 months (and on going)
Develop/disseminate materials using a variety of media/vehicles -- Less than 12 months (on going)
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•
•

Development of education/dissemination plan
Identification of media/vehicles for dissemination

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Production and review of materials
Evidence of dissemination of materials—via LAPD communiqués, bulletins, newsletters, roll
call trainings, etc.

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: CURRICULA AND TRAINING
Recommendation 17
Provide mandatory specialized and continuing education training for CAIT officers.
All CAIT officers must successfully complete the specialist training prior to receiving a CAIT
designation or providing specialized response to calls. All CAIT officers – the generalist-specialists
and those who co-respond with DMH – should receive advanced, intensive training of at least 40
contact hours. Continuing education relevant to encounters involving person with a mental illness
should be required for CAIT-trained officers at least twice every year (similar to Portland’s CIT
Program). Training updates should include, among other things, information about any new legislation
that may affect policies and procedures.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Once officers have been trained as CAIT
officers, training updates can be
absorbed within existing resources

On-going Annual Cost
Once officers have been trained as
CAIT officers, training updates can
be absorbed within existing
resources

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•
•
•
•
•

Provides opportunity for specialized officers to be updated on appropriate field operations
Decreases the likelihood that consumers, families and advocates will view the police as hostile,
aggressive, condescending, or indifferent to persons with mental illness
Increases the awareness of field officers to the need for respect toward all City residents
Demonstrates the LAPD’s priority of respectful behavior toward specific consumers, families
and advocates
Decreases the likelihood of complaints from citizens

Implementation Schedule
Curriculum development – Less than 12 months (and on-going thereafter)
Curriculum delivery – Less than 18 months ( and on-going thereafter)
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•
•
•
•

Evidence of review/refine/revise process involving the adaptation of CIT program training and
operations manuals
Formal method for obtaining feedback and assessing needs from stakeholders, including
internal and external content specialists, CAIT officers, community representatives, etc.
Inclusion of feedback and needs assessment information into the revision of curriculum and
training materials
Written timeline of course updating and schedule of classes

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Review of training classes’ evaluation forms

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: CURRICULA AND TRAINING
Recommendation 18
Include additional information on community supports in CAIT training.
Current officer training does not include information about community support agencies other than a
listing of hospitals. This information would be useful for CAIT officers when dealing with a person who
does not meet criteria for protective custody but would benefit from being directed to services in the
community. Relevant community service providers should be contacted and asked to present concise
written information and a brief verbal description of their programs during CAIT training. Their
participation in training should also strengthen partnerships with community agencies (see
Recommendation 4). It is imperative that community support information is updated consistently to
avoid misinformation and unusable contacts.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Can be absorbed within existing
resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•
•
•
•
•
•

Increases the likelihood that police provide appropriate assistance to persons with mental
illness by utilizing existing community supports
Increases the LAPD’s access to community support groups and organizations serving persons
with mental illness
Potentially decreases in the amount of time officers spend on disposition of incidents
Decreases the likelihood that consumers, families and advocates will view the police as hostile,
aggressive, condescending, or indifferent to persons with mental illness
Decreases the likelihood of complaints from citizens
Demonstrates the LAPD’s priority of respectful behavior toward specific consumers, families
and advocates

Implementation Schedule
Identify community support – Less than 6 months
Confirm services offered by community support groups/agencies – Less than 6 months
Include information in training—Less than 12 months (on-going thereafter)
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•
•
•

Evidence of community supports information presented in CAIT training
Evidence that community supports documentation covers all geographic areas within the City
of Los Angeles and types of pertinent services available
Dissemination of community supports information to patrol officers

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Review of disposition of calls to determine if community support groups and organizations are
utilized by CAIT officers

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: CURRICULA AND TRAINING
Recommendation 19
Include consumer, family and advocate perspectives in CAIT training.
Nationally, many law enforcement agencies have incorporated some level of new training for
responding to calls involving persons with a mental illness. Almost without exception, these agencies
report that hearing presentations by mental health consumers (persons with a mental illness) and
family members has had the most impact on officers and their attitude towards assisting this segment
of the community. Visiting treatment facilities also increases officers’ understanding of what actually
occurs in mental health treatment programs. This contact also helps to dispel myths and
misconceptions that officers may have about mental health consumers and vice versa.
The curriculum developed for the CIT pilot (based on the Albuquerque and Memphis curricula)
includes lectures from several persons who have a mental illness and who were previously homeless.
Central Bureau, the area in which CIT was piloted, contains a high number of homeless persons with a
mental illness, and often there is no family involved in calls or encounters. The inclusion of family
members in training may need to be modified by division in response to their availability.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Can be absorbed within existing
resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•
•
•
•

Decreases the likelihood that consumers, families and advocates will view the police as hostile,
aggressive, condescending, or indifferent to persons with mental illness
Increases the awareness of field officers to the need for respect toward all City residents
Demonstrates the LAPD’s priority of respectful behavior toward specific consumers, families
and advocates
Decreases the likelihood of complaints from citizens

Implementation Schedule
Inclusion in design, planning and curriculum writing – Less than 6 months
Inclusion in CAIT training -- Less than 12 months
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•
•
•
•

Evidence of consumer, family and advocacy linkages and partnerships with CAIT program
Evidence of consumer, family and advocacy perspectives in training materials
Review of training materials by consumer, family and advocacy representatives
Evidence of consumer, family and advocacy representatives’ participation in training sessions

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: CURRICULA AND TRAINING
Recommendation 20
Integrate and provide all training for mental illness response under CAIT.
The CAIT Coordinator should assume agency-wide leadership for developing, monitoring and
updating curricula and training related to police responses to persons with a mental illness, whether
specialized training for CAIT officers or topical training for general patrol (see Recommendations 2327, below). The content of the curriculum developed by personnel in Central Bureau for the CIT pilot
program provides an excellent model for CAIT officer training. It is recommended that the CAIT
Coordinator have the curriculum – including practical exercises and scenarios – reviewed by SWAT,
Use of Force Instructors, and other tactical specialists within the agency, in conjunction with the
Director of Training, so that special tactical considerations and officer safety are emphasized and
integrated into CAIT officer training. Outside specialists and other departments that use special tactics
for these encounters should also be consulted. These units and specialists should also be consulted
in the development of training in these topics for patrol officers generally.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
With appropriate notice and
scheduling, this additional training can
be absorbed within existing resources.
(In addition to Training Division
personnel, CAIT program officers will
participate in the design and delivery of
training.)
Year One :
6 40-hour classes of 30 officers
(7,200 training hours – 180 officers;
FTE=3.6)
Minimal printing costs - <$1,250

On-going Annual Cost

Other Costs

With appropriate notice and
None
scheduling, this additional training can
be absorbed within existing resources.
Year Two:
12 40-hour classes of 30 officers
(14,400 training hours – 360 officers;
FTE=7.2)
Minimal printing costs - <$2,500
Year Three:
12 40-hour classes of 30 officers
(14,400 training hours – 360 officers;
FTE=7.2)
Minimal printing costs - <$2,500
Future Years: Additional training to
reach a critical mass of 15 to 20
percent of patrol force (see
Recommendation 7)

Benefits to the City
•
•
•

Lessens the probability of violent encounters between police officers and individuals who may
experience mental illness
Increases officer safety, providing officers with appropriate tools and tactics
Provides opportunity for specialized officers to be trained on appropriate and specific field

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•
•
•
•
•
•

85

operations
Decreases the likelihood that consumers, families and advocates will view the police as hostile,
aggressive, condescending, or indifferent to persons with mental illness
Increases the awareness of field officers to the need for respect toward all City residents
Demonstrates the LAPD’s priority of respectful behavior toward specific consumers, families
and advocates
Decreases the likelihood of complaints from citizens
Proposed curricula and training materials have been adapted/developed and utilized by LAPD
personnel
Adopts and implements a LAPD field-tested program that has been evaluated
Increases the coordination and appropriate supervision of LAPD activities/functions

Implementation Schedule
Review/refine/revise CIT program, including training and operations manuals – Less than 6 months
Identification of officers – Less than 6 months (first cohort); 6 to 24 months (additional cohorts)
Deployment of specialized responder officers – Less than 9 to 12 months (first cohort)
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Development of incentives that identify training and CAIT assignments as “coveted positions”
and “plum” assignments
Evidence of proactive and aggressive recruitment of volunteers for CAIT program
Evidence of review/refine/revise process involving the adaptation of CIT program training and
operations manuals
Inclusion of feedback from internal and external content specialists into the revision of CITbased materials
Adoption and utilization of CIT training and operations by LAPD
Written goals and implementation plan for CIT program, including recruiting, training, and
evaluation
Documentation that cohorts of officers are identified, trained and demonstrate proficiency
Training evaluation forms of CIT training classes

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: CURRICULA AND TRAINING
Recommendation 21
Include Communications Division in the development of training curriculum.
Special services such as the EBOs and Dispatchers are sometimes left out of the development of
training programs in other departments. Their input, like that of other units (see Recommendation
19), is vital to ensure that patrol and CAIT officers are provided with information that they need in order
to respond appropriately to calls involving persons with a mental illness. Including their advice
regarding techniques for de-escalating an agitated or excited person, for example, would be valuable
for the police service representatives in telephone triage. In general, their input into the development,
review and revision of such curriculum is important.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Can be absorbed within existing
resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•
•
•
•
•
•

Increases coordination and contributions of existing LAPD units
Increases the contribution of EBO’s in handling 911 calls in an appropriate manner
Increases the probability of providing both more appropriate and quicker responses to mental
crises
Increases the opportunities for specialized first-response teams to handle LAPD encounters
with persons with mental illness
Lessens the probability of violent encounters between police officers and persons with mental
illness
Assists officers in obtaining important and relevant information related to subject and incident

Implementation Schedule
Identify training needs, issues and prompts – Less than 6 months
Conduct training, review outcomes, conduct training update – Less than 12 months (and on-going)
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•
•
•
•
•

Evidence of training coordination between CAIT program and Communications Division
Evidence of written guidelines, training guides and prompts that reflect input of
Communications Division
Review of training materials for use by Communications Division in training EBOs
Development, implementation and review of oral feedback system to obtain information from
EBOs and CAIT officers on new training and guidelines
Review of dispatching and dispositions of 911 calls and CAIT incident reports for appropriate

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deployment, data completeness and accuracy of information

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: CURRICULA AND TRAINING
Recommendation 22
Enhance Communications training to facilitate better initial identification of calls.
Because the proposed approach emphasizes having a specialized responder as the first responder,
the Communications Center should be asked to make reasonable efforts to screen for and identify
callers where the subject may have a mental illness. Feedback from officers, command staff, EBOs
and Dispatchers makes it clear that many calls involving persons with a mental illness are not
dispatched initially as “mental” calls. Not all cases are identifiable from a 911 call, but knowing at the
time of the call that a subject may have a mental illness will help to facilitate deployment of a specialist
responder and provide all responding officers with relevant information about the call. It may be that
Communication Center personnel could be provided with standard questions that help to identify
cases that involve persons with a mental illness and with follow-up questions if a mental illness is
suspected. For example, in calls involving disorderly or disruptive conduct, particularly where the
subject’s conduct may be menacing, the EBO might routinely ask “Do you know whether the person
has any history of mental or emotional problems?” Follow-up queries might target issues such as
medication or hospitalization.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Can be absorbed within existing
resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•
•
•
•

Provides both more appropriate and quicker responses to mental crises
Increases opportunities for specialized first-response teams to handle LAPD encounters with
persons with mental illness
Lessens the probability of violent encounters between police officers and persons with mental
illness
Assists officers in obtaining important and relevant information related to subject and incident

Implementation Schedule
Identify training needs, issues and prompts – Less than 6 months
Conduct training, review outcomes, conduct training update – Less than 12 months (and on-going)
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•
•
•
•
•

Evidence of written guidelines, training guides and prompts
Evidence of training coordination between CAIT program and Communications Division
Review of quality of training materials used by Communications Division in training EBOs
Evidence of use of oral feedback system to obtain information and assessments from EBOs
and CAIT officers on new training and guidelines
Review of dispatching and dispositions of 911 calls and CAIT incident reports for appropriate

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deployment, data completeness, and accuracy of information

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: CURRICULA AND TRAINING
Recommendation 23
Focus curricula and training for patrol officers on 1) a wide range of field tactics, and 2)
practical, problem-based scenarios.
• Emphasize tactics that may differ when encountering an individual with a mental illness.
Tactics emphasizing and integrating verbal de-escalation with use of force requires revision in
both curricula and policies. The emphasis here should be placed on didactic training and on
using other training venues and media such as roll call and bulletins.
•

Use more problem-based material during training.
Didactic education is appropriate for some material. However, most training must be problembased and actually practiced by officers using monitored scenarios. It is important that officers
have the facts and also understand the concepts and how to apply them in field encounters. The
officer, when facing a unique situation, must be able to apply the learning to respond to and
complete the encounter in a safe, appropriate and helpful manner. Many of the existing training
documents should be revamped and some replaced completely with more problem-solving
oriented material.

New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Can be absorbed within existing
resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•
•
•
•
•

Lessens the probability of violent encounters between police officers and individuals who may
experience mental illness
Increases officer safety, providing officers with appropriate tools and tactics
Increases the likelihood of de-escalation techniques will be used by field officers
Decreases the likelihood of use of force tactics
Increases the awareness of field officers to the need for appropriate response and respect
toward all City residents

Implementation Schedule
External staff involved in curriculum and training development – Less than 6 months
Internal staff involved in curriculum and training development – 6 to 9 months
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•
•

Evidence of CAIT and Training Division collaboration on design and delivery of training
Evidence of design and review of curriculum and training scenarios by internal and external
subject matter experts

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Evidence of observation of training by internal and external subject matter experts
Review of training evaluation sheets

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: CURRICULA AND TRAINING
Recommendation 24
Conduct initial agency-wide training for all patrol officers on managing encounters.
LAPD’s substantial changes to training related to responding to calls involving persons with a mental
illness should begin with brief training for all patrol personnel to: (1) communicate the agency’s
philosophy; (2) educate them about the new structure of specialized response; (3) provide an update on
identifying and assessing features of mental illness in field encounters; and (4) deliver and practice
techniques for integrating officer safety with verbal de-escalation.
Ideally, an initial training covering these topics for all patrol personnel should be a full day of training. It
should be mandated to occur within the next 18 to 36 months. However, it is recognized that it may not
be possible to dedicate eight new hours to this topic. Some efficiency can be gained in that elements of
the recommended curriculum overlap with training on interactions with other population groups (e.g.
domestic violence, mental retardation, general emotional disturbances). Training in the topics of
communication, verbal de-escalation, ADA and client rights provide tools for a variety of situations and
populations (see Appendix O for more details).
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
CAIT program will participate in the
design and delivery of training. Cost of
additional Training Division staff can be
absorbed within existing resources.
Minimal printing costs - <$10,000

On-going Annual Cost
CAIT program will participate in the
design and delivery of training. Cost
of additional Training Division staff
can be absorbed within existing
resources.

Other Costs
None

Minimal printing costs - <$10,000
Benefits to the City
•
•
•
•
•
•

Lessens the probability of violent encounters between police officers and individuals who may
experience mental illness
Increases officer safety, providing officers with appropriate tools and tactics
Increases the awareness of field officers to the need for appropriate response and respect
toward all City residents
Demonstrates the LAPD’s priority of appropriate response and respectful behavior toward
specific consumers, families and advocates
Decreases the likelihood that consumers, families and advocates will view the police as hostile,
aggressive, condescending, or indifferent to persons with mental illness
Decreases the likelihood of complaints from citizens

Implementation Schedule
Plan, design and write curriculum – Less than 3 months
Schedule training sessions – Less than 3 months (and on going)

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Conduct training for all field officers – Less than 18 to 24 months
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Development of focused learning objectives and outcomes for 8-hour course
Evidence of CAIT and Training Division collaboration on design and delivery of training
Evidence of design and review of curriculum and training scenarios by internal and external
subject matter experts
Evidence of rosters and class schedule for training
Evidence of observation of training by internal and external subject matter experts
Evidence of observation of and participating in training by community organizations,
consumers, family members and advocates
Evidence of proficiency of training in special techniques and considerations for managing
mental crisis encounters
Review of training evaluation sheets

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: CURRICULA AND TRAINING
Recommendation 25
Expand external and internal expertise used in developing curricula and instruction.
• Utilize external subject matter experts, coordinated through the Professional Advisory
Committee, to plan new curricula.
Input from community stakeholders should be included in development of the themes for the training package
(see, also Recommendations 18 and 19). This can enhance public relations as well as help focus
the training package on local concerns. The actual development of the curricula and lesson plans
should be left to the subject matter experts and any material affecting tactics and officer safety are
subject to department review. This may require at least 120 hours by a consultant to develop,
implement and train personnel to provide the new curricula.
• Use existing resources within the Department to assist in the development and instruction
of training material.
In particular, BSS and CAIT should do more than review and place a stamp of approval on new lesson plans.
They should be utilized more frequently in the writing of curricula and in its delivery. CAIT should have
significant input into the development of future LAPD mental health training scenarios, both for new
CAIT officers and for recruits and annual training materials (see Recommendation 19, above). They
will see first hand the types of incidents that happen and have the experience to deal with them. This
expertise should be captured and shared.
• Supplement current instructors with persons who have experience with encounters with
persons with a mental illness.
As with training for CAIT officers, the training team for patrol generally should include community providers,
consumers and family members of persons with a mental illness. This is not to replace but to
supplement training by officer-trainers. Outside trainers-of-trainers may be utilized to better prepare
employed training staff to assume more responsibility in the future.
All instructors (officer and non-officers) must be knowledgeable, experienced and dedicated to the topic.
Instructors assigned in special areas should be screened and selected for expertise in communication
and verbal de-escalation tactics.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Cost of internal staff can be absorbed
within existing resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Cost of external subject matter experts
estimated to be $10,800 - $17,600
depending upon hours and rates.

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Benefits to the City
•

Lessens the probability of violent encounters between police officers and individuals who may
experience mental illness

•

Utilizes the expertise of both internal and external subject matter experts in terms of developing
and expanding curricula and instructions

•

More thoroughly integrates into patrol officer training various LAPD units involved with persons
with mental illness

•

Increases the awareness of field officers to the need for respect toward all City residents

•

Decreases the likelihood that consumers, families and advocates will view the police as hostile,
aggressive, condescending, or indifferent to persons with mental illness

•

Demonstrates the LAPD’s priority of respectful behavior toward specific consumers, families
and advocates

•

Decreases the likelihood of complaints from citizens

Implementation Schedule
Internal staff involved in curriculum and training development – 3 to 6 months
External staff involved in curriculum and training development – Less than 3 months
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•

Evidence of written plan of training design and delivery that involves internal and external
subject matter specialists, community organizations, consumers, family members and
advocates

•

Evidence of inclusion of internal and external subject matter experts in curriculum design and
delivery

•

Evidence of review of curriculum and training scenarios by internal and external subject matter
experts

•

Evidence of observation of training by internal and external subject matter experts

•

Evidence of observation of and/or participating in training design and delivery by community
organizations, consumer, consumers, family members and advocates

•

Review of training evaluation sheets

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: CURRICULA AND TRAINING
Recommendation 26
Increase exposure to mental crisis response in basic recruit training.
The total amount of training that gives attention to mental illness is currently only a small portion of the 6-hour
training related to persons with disabilities. LAPD recruit instructors repeatedly reported that they
were unable to include community and LAPD resources because of time considerations. In order to
improve training by incorporating experts and additional instructors for topics related to mental illness,
as suggested earlier, an increase from 6 hours to 10 hours is recommended.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
This recommendation will require
adjusting the current recruit training
schedule. With these adjustments, the
addition of 4 hours devoted to mental
illness training can be absorbed within
existing resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•

Lessens the probability of violent encounters between police officers and individuals who may
experience mental illness

•

Increases officer safety, providing officers with appropriate tools and tactics

•

Provides additional time for subject matter experts, consumers, family members and advocates
to be included in training

•

Increases the amount of time allocated to scenario training for recruits

•

Increases the awareness of field officers to the need for appropriate response and respect
toward all City residents

•

Demonstrates the LAPD’s priority of appropriate response and respectful behavior toward
specific consumers, families and advocates

•

Decreases the likelihood that consumers, families and advocates will view the police as hostile,
aggressive, condescending, or indifferent to persons with mental illness

•

Decreases the likelihood of complaints from citizens

Implementation Schedule
Review, revise and pilot curriculum – Less than 3 months
Finalize curriculum and integrate into recruit training – Less than 6 months

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Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•

Evidence of a written plan for expanded training, including specific learning objectives and
outcomes, instructional activities, conceptual framework, tactics, skills, etc.

•

Evidence of CAIT and Training Division collaboration on design and delivery of training

•

Evidence of design and review of curriculum and training scenarios by internal and external
subject matter experts

•

Evidence of plan for instructional delivery including internal and external subject matter
experts, community organizations, advocates, and others

•

Evidence of design and review of curriculum and training scenarios by internal and external
subject matter experts

•

Evidence of observation of training by internal and external subject matter experts

•

Evidence of observation of and/or participation in training by community organizations,
consumers, family members and advocates

•

Evidence of proficiency of training in special techniques and considerations for managing
mental crisis encounters

•

Review of training evaluation sheets

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Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: CURRICULA AND TRAINING
Recommendation 27
Identify verbal de-escalation techniques appropriate for use with individuals in mental crises;
integrate these techniques into mental crisis scenarios for inclusion in use of force training.
By identifying and integrating verbal de-escalation techniques into situations involving mental crises,
police officers have a greater skill set from which to draw (see, also, Recommendation 21). Current
training in the force continuum appears to emphasize the issuance of directives and commands at the
initial stage. While these often are appropriate techniques, they differ significantly from the approach
of crisis negotiation or de-escalation. It is proposed that greater emphasis be placed on interactive
verbal techniques and de-escalation strategies in the context of other use of force training. Deescalation should be understood as part of the “verbal” point on the force continuum and as a strategy
for subject control.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Can be absorbed within existing
resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•
•
•
•
•

Lessens the probability of violent encounters between police officers and individuals who may
experience mental illness
Increases officer safety, providing officers with appropriate tools and tactics
Provides officers with enhanced skills in handling encounters with persons with mental illness
Decreases the likelihood that consumers, families and advocates will view the police as hostile,
aggressive, condescending or indifferent to persons with mental illness
Decreases the likelihood of complaints from citizens

Implementation Schedule
Review, revise, and integrate training materials – Less than 3 months
Implement revised training – Less than 6 months
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•
•
•
•
•

Evidence of review, revision and integration of de-escalation techniques in use of force training
Review of written training materials on use of force
Observation of training classes for evidence of de-escalation techniques in lectures, scenarios,
videos, etc.
Review of CAIT incident logs, use of force documentation, and other data for evidence of deescalation tactics
Evidence of proficiency of training in special techniques and considerations for managing

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•

99

mental crisis encounters
Evidence of fewer use of force tactics by LAPD officers during encounters with persons with
mental illness

Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: USE OF FORCE
Recommendation 28
Re-structure Categorical Use of Force documentation.
Agency documentation of Categorical Uses of Force should require a designation of whether the
subject was known or suspected to have a mental illness and whether that fact was known before or
only after the force occurred. This will permit better tracking of more serious cases of force used in
encounters with subjects suspected of having a mental illness. It is also recommended that this
documentation – at least for cases involving subjects suspected to have a mental illness – be
structured more like the required forms for non-categorical use of force. This would allow for a more
useful analysis of encounters than is possible using information in current categorical use of force
documents. In addition, the revised form should contain a detailed account of the approach and early
features of the encounter, including the verbal interaction between officer and subject. Currently,
many reports state simply that the officer attempted to “verbalize” with the subject. It would be more
useful for improving future encounters to know more precisely what the officer said and how the
subject responded. It would also be instructive to determine what the officer perceived to be the
immediate precipitant of the subject’s aggressive action. If deadly force is used, the officer should
document not only the justification for that action but the reasons why any lesser, more intermediate
action was not appropriate.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Staff time can be absorbed within
existing resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•
•
•
•
•

Improves LAPD data collection and tracking system
Provides information not presently available on encounters with persons with mental illness
Increases the documentation of verbal interaction between subject and officer, thus better
informing LAPD about appropriate de-escalation tactics and tools
Provides information for officer training on encounters with persons with mental illness
Documents extent to which LAPD officers utilize appropriate (or inappropriate tactics) in
encounters with persons with mental illness

Implementation Schedule
Develop, review, revise documentation – Less than 3 months
Implement use of revised documentation – Less than 6 months
Effectiveness measurement/criteria

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•
•
•

100

Evidence of LAPD’s review and revision of Categorical Use of Force documentation
Evidence of specific changes related to LAPD encounters with persons with mental illness
Evidence of utilization of new documentation by LAPD
Review of documentation for completeness, clarity, accuracy and usefulness

Recommendations to the City of Los Angeles:

Cost, Staffing, Benefits, Implementation and Effectiveness Criteria

AREA: USE OF FORCE
Recommendation 29
Review the LAPD’s Non-Categorical Use of Force reports to further inform training.
Over the past 3 years, the LAPD has collected approximately 300-500 non-categorical use of force
reports involving officers’ responses to mental crises. These reports were not reviewed in this
research. A study of non-categorical incidents could provide specific information and insight as to
effective means of limiting force in these police encounters. To the extent to which effective behaviors
and tactics used by field officers can be identified in these reports, curricula writers and trainers could
use that information to develop targeted and realistic training. Identifying situations and tactics used
by field officers to de-escalate potentially lethal force would allow trainers to teach these skills and
replicate actual encounters in their scenario trainings.
New Costs and Staffing
Year One (2002/3) Cost
Can be absorbed within existing
resources

On-going Annual Cost
None

Other Costs
None

Benefits to the City
•
•
•
•
•
•

Lessens the probability of violent encounters between police officers and individuals who may
experience mental illness
Increases the quality of recruit and specialized training within LAPD by drawing upon specific
field encounters between officers and individuals in mental crisis
Increases officer safety, providing officers with appropriate tools and tactics
Provides officers with enhanced skills in handling encounters with persons with mental illness
Decreases the likelihood that consumers, families and advocates will view the police as hostile,
aggressive, condescending or indifferent to persons with mental illness
Decreases the likelihood of complaints from citizens

Implementation Schedule
Review non-categorical use of force forms for training input – Less than 3 months
Review, revise, and integrate training concepts, tactics and materials – Less than 9 months
Implement revised training – Less than 12 months
Effectiveness measurement/criteria
•

Evidence of tactics, scenarios and de-escalation techniques identified in non-categorical use of
force forms

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•

Evidence of revision and integration of tactics, scenarios and de-escalation techniques in
recruit and continuing education training

•

Observation of training classes for evidence of input in lectures, scenarios, videos, etc.

•

Review of CAIT incident logs, use of force documentation, and other data for evidence of deescalation tactics

•

Evidence of fewer use of force tactics by LAPD officers during encounters with persons with
mental illness

Consent Decree Mental Illness Project