The following messaging worksheet breaks down the topic of mental health response and provides key talking points and facts to assist you in your daily communications about the subject. This worksheet is exclusively available to IACP members. 

Access the worksheet

These documents provide guidance to law enforcement officers when responding to or encountering persons experiencing a mental health crisis, and are exclusively available to IACP members. 

• Responding to Persons Affected by Mental Illness or in Crisis: Model Policy (2018)
• Responding to Persons Experiencing a Mental Health Crisis: Concepts and Issues Paper (2018)
• Responding to Persons Experiencing a Mental Health Crisis: Need to Know (2018)

• Excited Delirium Syndrome (2015)
• Assisted Outpatient Treatment (2014)
• Raising Awareness That Opioid Abuse May Lead To Heroin Addiction (2014)
• Support for Mental Health Courts (2013)
• Support for Unified Prescription Monitoring Program (2004)

• Support for the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act

• Sharing the Positive—Using Stats to Dispel Myths and Clarify Facts
• Police Approaches That Improve the Response to People with Mental Illnesses: A Focus on Victims
• Embracing CIT and the One Mind Campaign to Make a Difference

For more Police Chief articles on the subject of mental illness, please explore the magazine's archives.

One Mind Campaign

Launched in 2016, the One Mind Campaign seeks to ensure successful interactions between police officers and persons affected by mental illness. Participating law enforcement agencies have pledged their commitment to implement four promising practices, including partnering with a community mental health organization, implementing a policy to address police response to persons affected by mental illness, and provision of CIT and MHFA training. 

The  One Mind Campaign was borne out of an advisory group convened by the IACP to discuss the problem and create a set of recommendation to help agencies effectively manage their officers' response to persons affected by mental illness. Two documents summarize the work and recommendations of that advisory group:

• Symposium Report
• Summary Guide

Building Safer Communities: Improving Police Response to Persons with Mental Illness 
In May 2009, the IACP, in collaboration with the Bureau of Justice Assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice, JEHT Foundation, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services held a National Policy Summit on Building Safer Communities: Improving Police Response to Persons with Mental Illness. As a result of the summit, a report was produced that makes recommendations for local, state, federal, and tribal organizations to enhance the safety of community members and law enforcement officers when responding to crisis calls involving a person with mental illness.