Abstract
Nowhere are the controversies that can arise when police deal with mentally disordered persons more tragically evident than in a recent New York City case of Mrs. Eleanor Bumpurs (Raab, 1985). Mrs. Bumpurs was a 67-year-old mentally disordered black woman who lived alone in a public housing project in the Bronx. Her rent was $89 a month and she had not paid it for 5 months. A New York City marshall went to the apartment to evict Mrs. Bumpurs for failing to pay her rent, but she refused to let him in and made threats through the locked door. The next day, October 29, 1984, the Emergency Service Unit of the New York City Police Department was notified of the threats. Six Emergency Service Unit officers went to Mrs. Bumpurs’ apartment to evict her. They punched out the lock and went into the apartment carrying plastic shields designed to protect them against blows and knife thrusts and also carrying a “restraining bar,” which is a U-shaped bar attached to a long handle that is used to pin a person against a wall.
We would like to thank Dr. Linda Teplin and Dr. John Stratton for their help in locating material used in this chapter.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bittner, E. (1967). Police discretion in emergency apprehension of mentally ill persons. Social Problems, 14, 278–292.
Dershowitz, A. (1974). The origins of preventive confinement in Anglo-American law. Part I: The English experience. University of Cincinnati Law Review, 43, 1–60.
Haley, E., & Moushigian, C. (1974). Mental health services in a law enforcement setting. Journal of California Law Enforcement, 8, 184–190.
Manning, P. (1984). Police classification and the mentally ill. In L. Teplin (Ed.), Mental health and criminal justice (pp. 177–198 ). Beverly Hills: Sage.
Matthews A. 1970 Observations on police policy and procedure for emergency detention of the mentally ill. Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, 61, 283–295.
Mohr, W., & Steblein, J. (1976). Mental health workshops for law enforcement. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 45, 3–8.
Monahan, J. (1981). Predicting violent behavior. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Monahan, J., & Geis, G. (1976). Controlling “dangerous” people. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 423, 142–151.
Monahan, J., & Steadman, H. (1983). Crime and mental disorder: An epidemiological approach. In Morris, N. & Tonry, M. (Eds,), Crime and justice: A review of research, Vol. 3 (pp. 145–189 ). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Monahan, J., & Steadman, H. (Eds.). (1983). Mentally disordered offenders: Perspectives from law and social science. New York: Plenum.
Monahan, J., Caldeira, C., & Friedlander, H. (1979). Police and the mentally ill: A comparison of committed and arrested persons. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 2, 509–518.
Nemetz, W. (1977). Crisis intervention. Police Chief, 44, 16–70.
President’s Commission on Mental Health, Report to the President. (1980). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Raab, S. (1985). State judge dismisses indictment of officer in the Bumpurs killing. New York Times, April 13, p.1.
Reiser, M. (1974). Mental health in police work and training. Police Chief, 41, 51–52.
Schag, D. (1977). Predicting dangerousness: An analysis of procedures in a mental health center and two police agencies. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Schuerman, L., & Kobrin, S. (1984). Exposure of community mental health clients to the criminal justice system: client/criminal or patient/prisoner. In L. Teplin (Ed.), Mental health and criminal justice ( 87–118 ). Beverly Hills: Sage.
Steadman, H., & Cocozza, J. (1978). Psychiatry, dangerousness and the repetitively violent offender. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 69, 226–231.
Steadman, H., Monahan, J., Duffee, B., Hartstone, E., & Robbins, P. (1985). The impact of state hospital deinstitutionalization on United States prison populations, 1968–1978. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 75, 474–490.
Steadman, H., Monahan, J., Hartstone, E., Davis, S., and Robbins, P. (1982). Mentally disordered offenders: A national survey of patients and facilities. Law and Human Behavior, 6, 31–38.
Teplin, L. (1985). The criminality of the mentally ill: A dangerous misconception. American Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 593–599.
Teplin, L. (1984). Criminalizing mental disorder: The comparative arrest rate of the mentally ill. American Psychologist, 39, 794–803.
Teplin, L. (Ed.). (1984). Mental health and criminal justice. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Teplin, L. (1983). The criminalization of the mentally ill: Speculation in search of data. Psychological Bulletin, 94, 54–67.
Weis, J., & Kenny, J. (1980). Crime and criminals in the United States, In E. Bittner & S. Messinger (Eds.), Criminology review yearbook, Vol. 2. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1986 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Monahan, J., Monahan, B. (1986). Police and the Mentally Disordered. In: Yuille, J.C. (eds) Police Selection and Training. NATO ASI Series, vol 30. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4434-3_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4434-3_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8474-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-4434-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive