Mental and behavioral health characteristics among individuals injuriously shot by police in the United States.
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| Title: | Mental and behavioral health characteristics among individuals injuriously shot by police in the United States. |
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| Authors: | Ward, Julie A. (AUTHOR), Fix, Rebecca L. (AUTHOR), Cepeda, Javier A. (AUTHOR), Nestadt, Paul S. (AUTHOR), Crifasi, Cassandra K. (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Journal of Mental Health. Apr2026, Vol. 35 Issue 2, p186-198. 13p. |
| Subjects: | Injury risk factors, Archives, Substance abuse, Mental health, Computer software, African Americans, Violence, Research funding, Logistic regression analysis, Hispanic Americans, Mental illness, Crisis intervention (Mental health services), Retrospective studies, Descriptive statistics, Chi-squared test, Treatment effectiveness, White people, Firearms, Self-mutilation, Odds ratio, Medical records, Acquisition of data, Suicide, Homicide, Statistics, Disease complications, Police, Comparative studies, Data analysis software, Confidence intervals, Interpersonal relations, Shootings (Crime), Symptoms |
| Geographic Terms: | United States |
| Abstract: | Background: Criminalization of people experiencing mental illness is systemic, but the conditions surrounding police use-of-force in such encounters are under-examined. Aims: To describe mental or behavioral health (MBH) involvement in injurious shootings by U.S. police compared with MBH-uninvolved shootings. Methods: Using a 2015–2020 dataset developed from manual review of injurious shootings by police compiled from the Gun Violence Archive (GVA) (n = 10,615), we identified 2454 people shot in MBH-involved encounters. Through further review, we classified the MBH conditions and behaviors involved. Using descriptive statistics and logistic regression models, we compared characteristics of injured people, presenting conditions, and responses. Results: Twenty-three percent of injurious shootings by police involved MBH symptoms (n = 2336) or substance use (n = 921). Eighty-one percent of injured people threatened violence against others; 10% presented only self-harming symptoms, and 5% presented no symptoms. MBH involvement was associated with 1.5-times higher odds of fatality than MBH-uninvolved shootings and 31% higher odds of injuring an unarmed person vs. person with a gun. Clinician presence was identified in 1% of MBH-involved shootings. Conclusions: Police are de facto mental health system responders. Associated harms may be reduced through triage systems to facilitate clinician involvement, extreme risk protection order statutes, and better police training and protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Background: Criminalization of people experiencing mental illness is systemic, but the conditions surrounding police use-of-force in such encounters are under-examined. Aims: To describe mental or behavioral health (MBH) involvement in injurious shootings by U.S. police compared with MBH-uninvolved shootings. Methods: Using a 2015–2020 dataset developed from manual review of injurious shootings by police compiled from the Gun Violence Archive (GVA) (n = 10,615), we identified 2454 people shot in MBH-involved encounters. Through further review, we classified the MBH conditions and behaviors involved. Using descriptive statistics and logistic regression models, we compared characteristics of injured people, presenting conditions, and responses. Results: Twenty-three percent of injurious shootings by police involved MBH symptoms (n = 2336) or substance use (n = 921). Eighty-one percent of injured people threatened violence against others; 10% presented only self-harming symptoms, and 5% presented no symptoms. MBH involvement was associated with 1.5-times higher odds of fatality than MBH-uninvolved shootings and 31% higher odds of injuring an unarmed person vs. person with a gun. Clinician presence was identified in 1% of MBH-involved shootings. Conclusions: Police are de facto mental health system responders. Associated harms may be reduced through triage systems to facilitate clinician involvement, extreme risk protection order statutes, and better police training and protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 09638237 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/09638237.2025.2585191 |
