Abstract
There is increased interaction with law enforcement officers and people who have mental illnesses. Law enforcement officers’ interactions are often guided by poor training that can lead to a violent interaction with people who have a mental illness. Law enforcement agencies can benefit from having increased mental health training or developing specialized teams to handle calls involving people who have mental illnesses. This study takes a meta-analysis approach to study law enforcement readiness to work with people with mental illnesses. Data on law enforcement officers’ contact with people who have mental illnesses, referrals, arrest and training hours will be analyzed. The study shows that law enforcement officers are not prepared to work with people who have a mental illness due to inadequate training and knowledge base of all depositions available –leading to the criminalization of the mentally ill.