5 - (SYM 90) Improving Police Officer Interactions with Black Individuals Suffering from Mental Illness

High-profile, police-induced deaths have disproportionately involved individuals with serious mental illness (Dempsey et al., 2020; Frankham, 2018) particularly Black men (Edwards et al. 2018). In this study, we examined officers’ suggestions for how to reduce such occurrences, particularly with Black men. We also examined predictors of officer stigma toward people with serious mental illness (SMI). A mixed method design was used to conduct assessments with 107 police officers recruited through Qualtrics’ online panels, followed by a series of focus groups with Police officers recruited through outreach efforts (e.g., Police departments). As stigma is often a precursor to aggression (Gilbert and Bushman, 2017), we first quantitatively examined factors related to officer stigma toward people with SMI. As hypothesized, we found that officers who had poor mental health, assessed through both the Depression Anxiety and Stress Inventory (r = .380; p < .001) and the Suicidal Behavior Questionnaire (r = .353, p < .001), were more likely to hold stigmatizing attitudes toward people with SMI. Stigma toward others is a form of non-physical aggression that in some contexts is highly correlated with physical aggression (Vincent, Peterson & Parrot, 2016). Thus, this finding appears to offer indirect support for the frustration aggression hypothesis (Gilbert & Bushman, 2017), indicating that when people feel frustrated and bad about themselves, they are more likely to act out aggressively toward others. These findings suggest that efforts to bolster officers’ own mental health may be one way to reduce stigma and aggression toward people with SMI. In this talk we will also review qualitative data from police officers derived from analogue studies using both written vignettes and videos made by professional actors. Vignettes portrayed an officer interaction with a Black man who was experiencing a psychotic episode, which escalates into violence resulting in the death of the man. Officers were queried about their thoughts on the competence of the depicted officer, and what he could have done differently to prevent the fatal outcome. We will discuss officers’ commentary and suggestions for reducing these fatalities and improving relationships with the communities they serve. We will also discuss patterns in the data that give insights into officer attitudes and behaviors that may make some more prone to violence than others. Results of this study may eventually inform police reform efforts.