Policing in the grey zone: An investigation into the challenges of procedural justice for police interactions with persons in a mental health crisis

A growing body of literature finds that persons in crisis are more likely to be victims than offenders, but have higher rates of contact with the police, arrests, and criminal charges for minor offences and noncriminal behaviour. What remains unclear is how the decision-making process during these police-citizen encounters can foster perceptions of procedural justice if a procedural bias exists potentially criminalising the mentally ill. Using interview and ethnographic systematic social observational data from over 1,000 hours of police ride-alongs at a Canadian police service, I argue that an indirect procedural bias exists due to situational constraints, limited mental health resources, and a disjuncture between police training and local culture. These factors lead to response strategies that decrease perceptions of decision-making and treatment fairness while increasing the likelihood of criminalising the mentally ill.

Zur Vortragenden:
Jennifer Schulenberg is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology & Legal Studies at the University of Waterloo. Her research and teaching interests centre on evidence-based policing practices, police culture, misuse of force, vulnerable populations, youth crime, and research methods. Her research and international collaborations have been recognized with numerous research grants and awards for outstanding performance, teaching excellence, and the Governor General of Canada Academic Gold Medal.