Survey of Frontline Police Officers’ Responses and Requirements in Psychiatric Emergency Situations

Kyung Ja Lee, Kyunghee Lee, Yeong Mi Lee and Hyun Seok Choi
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Kyung Ja Lee: Department of Nursing, Milaelo Psychiatric Hospital, Gumi 39434, Korea
Kyunghee Lee: College of Nursing, Keimyung University, Daegu 42601, Korea
Yeong Mi Lee: Police Human Resources Development Institute, Asan 31540, Korea
Hyun Seok Choi: Center for Educational Performance, Keimyung University, Daegu 42601, Korea

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 18, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Police officers in South Korea can be summoned to incidents involving individuals with mental health problems. Therefore, for officers to communicate effectively in such situations, education is necessary. Accordingly, this study obtained frontline police officers’ perceptions of such educational programs and their suggestions regarding supplementary field manuals. Data were collected from 471 frontline police officers from 8 July until 9 August 2020. Data analysis incorporated frequency analysis, cross tabulation, text mining, and meaning network analysis. Participation in educational programs related to people with mental health problems depended on officers’ field experience with such persons (χ 2 = 7.432, p = 0.006). Among officers who received educational programs, most expressed satisfaction with the programs (χ 2 = 72.243, p < 0.001) and believed that these facilitated problem-solving (χ 2 = 7.574, p = 0.023), improved understanding of people with mental health problems (χ 2 = 10.220, p = 0.006), enabled better communication with such individuals (χ 2 = 21.588, p < 0.001), and improved confidence in clarity of verbal expression in conversations with them (χ 2 = 6.634, p = 0.036). An on-site response manual for communicating with people with mental health problems would represent an effective educational intervention to improve police judgment and responses.

Keywords: frontline police officer; psychiatric; emergency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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