ABSTRACT
Patients who are prisoners continue to die in county jails while awaiting a bed that rarely materializes in a state mental hospital. Our mental health treatment procedures, protocols, and programs are in a state of serious disarray that has caused many major problems and crises for cops, courts, and correctional systems. In addition John Fitzgerald Kennedy was a Democrat whose party controlled both houses of Congress and, as a generalization, Democrats have been more sympathetic to mental health issues than Republicans. In response, many law enforcement agencies have Mental Health Ride Along programs and or special units that respond to mental health calls. There are several models for mental health involvement: the mental health professional is an employee of the law enforcement agency; and the mental health professional is an employee of the department’s city, county, state, or federal government.
