Law enforcement officers routinely provide first-line response to people with mental illness who are in crisis. These officers must make difficult decisions about the best response, often without complete information about the person and at considerable risk to all parties involved. The Consensus Project explores ways to minimize such risks and to improve the outcomes of these contacts.

Though the Consensus Project encourages a systemic approach to improving the criminal justice system response to people with mental illness, we recognize the need for law enforcement officials to focus on the issues that most directly pertain to their roles. To that end, we recommend that law enforcement officials focus on the following sections: