Developmental Services - Case Management Manual
Guidelines for Police Involvement in Support of People served by Adults With Cognitive and Physical Disability Services
As citizens of Maine, people who have mental retardation, have every right to expect and receive supports as needed from law enforcement personnel. DHHS/MR Services are responsible for providing information, training and support to law enforcement personnel to assist them in responding to a behavioral or mental health crisis of our consumers. When a consumer of our services is in crisis, agencies need to have protocols in place to assure the safety of the person and the people providing support. It is the policy of the Department in these situations to pursue all OTHER avenues if safety allows, PRIOR to requesting police assistance. The following points should be followed.
- The decision to use law enforcement personnel for transportation of individuals should not be “planned.” It should be done on an individual/incident basis. Agencies may have protocols to assist staff in making the decision regarding police intervention, but teams should not make transportation by law enforcement a part of a person’ intervention plan.
- Police should not be used in planned intervention. In cases where a team feels the need to do so, police intervention should be specific in nature, pro-active, and should be reviewed and approved by the three-person committee. Planning process should focus on avoiding future incidents or supporting people through those incidents in an appropriate manner.
- Protocols should always call for intervention/input/consultation by the MR Crisis Team with the understanding that there are situations that occur when law enforcement should be called immediately. In those cases a reportable event should be filled out with an explanation for the immediate call.
