#27 - Law enforcement and mental illness

<p>I share my thoughts on the findings from the study "Road Runners" via Treatment Advocacy Center.  Key findings can be found on:</p> <p><a href='https://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/road-runners'>https://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/road-runners</a></p> <ul><li>An average of 10% of law enforcement agencies’ total budgets was spent responding to and transporting persons with mental illness in 2017.</li> <li>The average distance to transport an individual in mental illness crisis to a medical facility was 5 times farther than the distance to transport them to jail. </li> <li>Nationwide, an estimated $918 million was spent by law enforcement on transporting people with severe mental illness in 2017.</li> <li>The amount of time spent transporting people with mental illness by law enforcement agency survey respondents in 2017 sums to 165,295 hours, or more than 18 years.</li> <li>21% of total law enforcement staff time was used to respond to and transport individuals with mental illness in 2017.</li> <li>Law enforcement officers waited significantly longer — almost 2.5 hours longer — when dropping a person off at a medical facility than if transporting to a jail.</li> <li>Some officers reported having to wait with the individual for 72 hours or more until a bed becomes available.</li> <li>Survey respondents drove a total of 5,424,212 miles transporting individuals with serious mental illness in 2017 — the equivalent of driving around the Earth’s equator more than 217 times.</li> </ul> <p>The report was released in partnership with the National Sheriffs' Association and the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police and funded by the Achelis and Bodman Foundation.</p> <p>To help keep the podcast ad-free, please consider supporting the podcast for just $1 per month via Patreon: <a href='https://www.patreon.com/bipolarandsurviving'>https://www.patreon.com/bipolarandsurviving</a>.</p>