Law enforcement agencies have reported that anywhere from five to 15 percent of their annual calls involve an individual struggling with mental illness. These calls may include a missing person, criminal activity, erratic behavior, or even someone threatening to harm themselves or others. In most of these cases, the Post reported, the individual in question was armed, but police officers weren’t responding to reports of a crime. “More often, the police officers were called by relatives, neighbors or other bystanders worried that a mentally fragile person was behaving erratically,” the Post report states. “More than 50 people were explicitly suicidal” (Policing the mentally ill, 2022). 

Folks with mental issues should be met by social workers with the collaboration of law enforcement, if necessary, in order to decrease rates of violence. Folks with mental health issues will receive person centered Reponses to potential mental health situations. Thus, lead to less violence and incarceration rates for people with mental health issues.