Accessing justice for mentally ill people : a comparison of UK and Australian developments

As with all members of the community, those suffering with a mental illness are likely to come into contact with police for a number of reasons, including being suspected of committing a crime, being the victim of crime or having been reported as missing ( House of Commons, 2015 ). Because of their illness, their likelihood of coming into contact with police is increased through suffering a mental health crisis and being perceived as a danger to themselves or others. Mental illness refers to a clinically diagnosable disorder(s) that significantly interferes with an individual’s cognitive, emotional or social abilities and can include anxiety, affective and substance abuse disorders (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2010; Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008 ). Mental illness may change a person’s thinking, feelings and behaviour and may cause distress and difficulty in functioning ( ABS, 2015 ). At its most severe, mental illness can result in crisis situations, whereby individuals act in a way that is ‘inconsistent with their surroundings or their “normal” behaviour’ and have limited capacity to recognise they are unwell or in need of help ( Brennan et al., 2016 , p. 4). At this stage, it is often up to professional intervention services to assist in addressing the distress, psychiatric symptoms and functional difficulties associated with a mental health crisis ( Brennan et al., 2016 ). However, with a lack of a suitable alternatives, police are often called on as default first responders and have become a central component in managing such situations ( Furness et al.,2016 ; Perry and Carter-Long, 2016 ; Lacobucci, 2014 ).