‘These people are vulnerable, they aren’t criminals’: Mental health, the use of force and deaths after police contact in England

Baker, D ORCID: 0000-0001-8651-865X and Pillinger, C (2020) ‘These people are vulnerable, they aren’t criminals’: Mental health, the use of force and deaths after police contact in England Police Journal, 93 (1). pp. 65-81. ISSN 0032-258X, 1740-5599

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Abstract

This paper considers deaths after police contact¹ in England of people experiencing mental health issues. It uses rich qualitative data from interviews with the families of nine people who died after police contact to examine how they died. The paper aims to assess the police role in providing a de facto service for people undergoing mental health crises and how the use of force might affect the outcomes of such encounters. The paper aims to examine the manifest tensions when an enforcement agency is tasked with providing a duty of care to vulnerable people in society. Key findings are that force is disproportionately more likely to be used on people with mental health issues, and also disproportionately more likely to be used on people from Black and Minority Ethnic communities. Further findings provide insight on the use of mechanical restraint and the way in which inappropriate transportation can exacerbate the effects of restraint.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	4402 Criminology, 44 Human Society, Behavioral and Social Science, Health Disparities, Clinical Research, Social Determinants of Health, Mental Health, Health Disparities and Racial or Ethnic Minority Health Research, 8.1 Organisation and delivery of services, Mental health, 3 Good Health and Well Being
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	18 May 2020 09:07
Last Modified:	08 May 2026 11:53
DOI:	10.1177/0032258X19839275
Related Websites:	Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3059338
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