Annotated Bibliographies

Teplin, L.A. (2000). Keeping the peace: Police discretion and mentally ill persons. National Institute of Justice Journal, 9-15.

Linda Teplin is Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Psycho-Legal Studies Program at Northwestern University Medical School. The role of police in handling mentally ill persons is described as three options in this article. Officers who encounter a n irrational person have the choices of transporting the person to the hospital, arresting the person, or resolving the matter informally. Studies completed by the author found an increased probability of being arrested for suspects exhibiting signs of me ntal disorder than for those who apparently were not mentally ill. Several explanations are offered for the higher arrest rate among persons who exhibited signs of mental illness. Recommendations for policy changes in both the criminal justice and mental health systems are suggested by Teplin.