Police departments in the 194 U.S. cities with a population of 100,000 or m
ore were surveyed in 1996 to identify strategies they used to obtain input
from the mental health system about dealing with mentally ill persons. A to
tal of 174 departments responded (90 percent). Ninety-six departments had n
o specialized response for dealing with mentally ill persons. Among the 78
departments with special programs, three basic strategies were found: a pol
ice-based specialized police response, a police-based specialized mental he
alth response, and a mental-health-based specialized mental health response
. At least two-thirds of all departments, even those with no specialized re
sponse program, rated themselves as moderately or very effective in dealing
with mentally ill persons in crisis.