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Mental and behavioral health characteristics among individuals injuriously shot by police in the United States.

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Title: Mental and behavioral health characteristics among individuals injuriously shot by police in the United States.
Authors: Ward, Julie A. (AUTHOR), Fix, Rebecca L. (AUTHOR), Cepeda, Javier A. (AUTHOR), Nestadt, Paul S. (AUTHOR), Crifasi, Cassandra K. (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of Mental Health. Apr2026, Vol. 35 Issue 2, p186-198. 13p.
Subjects: Injury risk factors, Archives, Substance abuse, Mental health, Computer software, African Americans, Violence, Research funding, Logistic regression analysis, Hispanic Americans, Mental illness, Crisis intervention (Mental health services), Retrospective studies, Descriptive statistics, Chi-squared test, Treatment effectiveness, White people, Firearms, Self-mutilation, Odds ratio, Medical records, Acquisition of data, Suicide, Homicide, Statistics, Disease complications, Police, Comparative studies, Data analysis software, Confidence intervals, Interpersonal relations, Shootings (Crime), Symptoms
Geographic Terms: United States
Abstract: Background: Criminalization of people experiencing mental illness is systemic, but the conditions surrounding police use-of-force in such encounters are under-examined. Aims: To describe mental or behavioral health (MBH) involvement in injurious shootings by U.S. police compared with MBH-uninvolved shootings. Methods: Using a 2015–2020 dataset developed from manual review of injurious shootings by police compiled from the Gun Violence Archive (GVA) (n = 10,615), we identified 2454 people shot in MBH-involved encounters. Through further review, we classified the MBH conditions and behaviors involved. Using descriptive statistics and logistic regression models, we compared characteristics of injured people, presenting conditions, and responses. Results: Twenty-three percent of injurious shootings by police involved MBH symptoms (n = 2336) or substance use (n = 921). Eighty-one percent of injured people threatened violence against others; 10% presented only self-harming symptoms, and 5% presented no symptoms. MBH involvement was associated with 1.5-times higher odds of fatality than MBH-uninvolved shootings and 31% higher odds of injuring an unarmed person vs. person with a gun. Clinician presence was identified in 1% of MBH-involved shootings. Conclusions: Police are de facto mental health system responders. Associated harms may be reduced through triage systems to facilitate clinician involvement, extreme risk protection order statutes, and better police training and protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Mental Health is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: Mental and behavioral health characteristics among individuals injuriously shot by police in the United States.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Mental+Health%22">Journal of Mental Health</searchLink>. Apr2026, Vol. 35 Issue 2, p186-198. 13p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Injury+risk+factors%22">Injury risk factors</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Archives%22">Archives</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Substance+abuse%22">Substance abuse</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mental+health%22">Mental health</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Computer+software%22">Computer software</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22African+Americans%22">African Americans</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Violence%22">Violence</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+funding%22">Research funding</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Logistic+regression+analysis%22">Logistic regression analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hispanic+Americans%22">Hispanic Americans</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mental+illness%22">Mental illness</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Crisis+intervention+%28Mental+health+services%29%22">Crisis intervention (Mental health services)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Retrospective+studies%22">Retrospective studies</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Descriptive+statistics%22">Descriptive statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Chi-squared+test%22">Chi-squared test</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Treatment+effectiveness%22">Treatment effectiveness</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22White+people%22">White people</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Firearms%22">Firearms</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Self-mutilation%22">Self-mutilation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Odds+ratio%22">Odds ratio</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Medical+records%22">Medical records</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Acquisition+of+data%22">Acquisition of data</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Suicide%22">Suicide</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Homicide%22">Homicide</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Statistics%22">Statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Disease+complications%22">Disease complications</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Police%22">Police</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Comparative+studies%22">Comparative studies</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+analysis+software%22">Data analysis software</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Confidence+intervals%22">Confidence intervals</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Interpersonal+relations%22">Interpersonal relations</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Shootings+%28Crime%29%22">Shootings (Crime)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Symptoms%22">Symptoms</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22United+States%22">United States</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
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  Data: Background: Criminalization of people experiencing mental illness is systemic, but the conditions surrounding police use-of-force in such encounters are under-examined. Aims: To describe mental or behavioral health (MBH) involvement in injurious shootings by U.S. police compared with MBH-uninvolved shootings. Methods: Using a 2015–2020 dataset developed from manual review of injurious shootings by police compiled from the Gun Violence Archive (GVA) (n = 10,615), we identified 2454 people shot in MBH-involved encounters. Through further review, we classified the MBH conditions and behaviors involved. Using descriptive statistics and logistic regression models, we compared characteristics of injured people, presenting conditions, and responses. Results: Twenty-three percent of injurious shootings by police involved MBH symptoms (n = 2336) or substance use (n = 921). Eighty-one percent of injured people threatened violence against others; 10% presented only self-harming symptoms, and 5% presented no symptoms. MBH involvement was associated with 1.5-times higher odds of fatality than MBH-uninvolved shootings and 31% higher odds of injuring an unarmed person vs. person with a gun. Clinician presence was identified in 1% of MBH-involved shootings. Conclusions: Police are de facto mental health system responders. Associated harms may be reduced through triage systems to facilitate clinician involvement, extreme risk protection order statutes, and better police training and protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Mental Health is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=pbh&AN=192584936
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/09638237.2025.2585191
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 13
        StartPage: 186
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Injury risk factors
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Archives
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Substance abuse
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mental health
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Computer software
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: African Americans
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Violence
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Research funding
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Logistic regression analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Hispanic Americans
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mental illness
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Crisis intervention (Mental health services)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Retrospective studies
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Chi-squared test
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Treatment effectiveness
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: White people
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Firearms
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Self-mutilation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Odds ratio
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Medical records
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Acquisition of data
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Suicide
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Homicide
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Statistics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Disease complications
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Police
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Comparative studies
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Data analysis software
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Confidence intervals
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Interpersonal relations
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Shootings (Crime)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Symptoms
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: United States
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Mental and behavioral health characteristics among individuals injuriously shot by police in the United States.
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              Text: Apr2026
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