Universities Dispatch Mental Health Experts, Not Police
Mental health crises, including suicide, have risen significantly on college campuses over the past decade. Armed police officers remain the default first responder for students with acute mental health needs. But a police response can inadvertently heighten trauma for students, healthcare professionals say. That’s why a number of universities—including California State University–Long Beach, University of California–Santa Cruz and Oregon State University—are launching mobile crisis outreach teams, led by mental health experts, to serve as first responders for students in crisis.
“Using armed campus police as first responders to students in crisis … deters students from seeking care.”
That’s the conclusion from three researcher-clinicians at the University of California, Los Angeles, in a recent article in the Journal of American College Health:
“The use of armed campus police officers to conduct student welfare checks and transport students to hospitals has the potential to escalate crises and affect clinical trajectories … [Yet,] campus police often are the only campus resource available to assess student wellness when there are concerns about suicidal intentions or symptoms that impair their ability to take adequate care of themselves. Consequently, students experiencing emergency mental health crises are all but guaranteed to interact with law enforcement when their need for care is greatest … By using armed campus police as first responders to students in crisis, universities perpetuate the relationship between mental illness and punishment of vulnerable populations, that in turn deters students from seeking care.” –Reducing Policing In Mental Health Crises: A Vision For University Campuses
Case(s) In Point:
Sasha Aslanian and Alisa Roth | American Public Media:
“Harry Fowler headed to Stanford University in fall 2017 with an impressive list of accomplishments: an A student in high school who competed in the National Chemistry Olympiad, ran track and cross country, and performed in the school’s drumline … Fowler had endured bouts of depression since eighth grade and decided to take advantage of Stanford’s free mental health services … That October, Fowler went on an antidepressant for the first time. But the medication didn’t have the intended effect … [Fowler] felt intense thoughts of suicide [leading a] residential assistant [to call the] campus mental health center … Two campus police officers showed up [to escort Fowler to the hospital]. For Fowler, who is Black, it was frightening … Fowler [refused] to go to the hospital … More police officers showed up and surrounded Fowler … The officers handcuffed [and placed Fowler] in the back of a squad car … it was trauma on top of the stress and anxiety …”
Tajairi Neuson | UC San Diego Triton:
“I sat at my dining room table, hands clutching my head hoping if I held it hard enough the thoughts would stop. All I could think about was how badly I wanted to die. How much I wanted to suffer. It didn’t take long for my thoughts to become actions. I messaged a friend, he called Counseling And Psychological Services. Two hours later, a Community Service Officer and two [campus police] officers arrived at my door … I am a tall Black male who weighs over 200lbs ... I let them in. I sat on my couch trying my best not to panic or make any sudden movements that could lead to me having a bullet in my head … They asked to see my cut. I obeyed, showing them my left wrist. They asked ‘how are you feeling now?’ I felt anxious, but I didn’t want to antagonize them by saying they were the reason why. Instead I lied, ‘I’m feeling fine now.’”
College Students Strongly Favor Expanding Mental Health Services Over Hiring Additional Armed Security Officers, A Recent College Pulse Survey Shows:
Buoyed By Student Advocates and Medical Professionals, These Campuses Are Pivoting To A Clinician-Led Approach:
Just Launched:
California State University, Long Beach recently launched a mobile crisis team composed of trained clinicians that respond–instead of armed campus security officers–when students are experiencing mental health crises. In addition to offering counseling or helping to safely transport students to a hospital, clinicians have the right training and positioning to deescalate already heightened situations. As Damian Zavala, who oversees the mobile crisis team explained to Inside Higher Ed, “The thought behind [launching the team] was that when our police department responds to crisis situations on campus with students or faculty or staff, they’re in uniform and they’re carrying a firearm. Even before a word is said, it just has a different optic.”
Ready To Launch:
Oregon State University describes its mobile crisis team as a “strong network of care that reimagines how we approach safety and security at Oregon State, creating greater alignment and collaboration among university and community partners in the coordination of crisis prevention, mental health, public safety and other support services in Corvallis.” Here’s an example of how OSU Assist can help students: “A student calls 911 because their roommate is experiencing a mental health crisis; they are extremely worried about their roommate and don’t know what to do. OSU Assist could respond, stabilize the student and then follow up to connect them to wraparound services (for example, support from Counseling & Psychological Services).” The program launches next month.
Hiring Now: University of California, Santa Cruz Mobile Crisis Response Team. As the job postings describe, the program is “being created to support student voices asking for innovative, culturally sensitive, and tiered responses to campus mental health crises and the national trend towards non-police options.”
