ABSTRACT
Since the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill in the 1960s, responding to mentally ill people has become a large part of the police response to calls for their service. It is now a routine requirement that police ocers assess the mental state and intentions of individuals they come into contact with while performing their duties. It is believed that a high percentage of homeless persons who live in public places on a part-time or full-time basis suer from mental illness. Oen, these people suer from a combination of mental illness, alcoholism, and drug abuse.
