In recent years perhaps no profession has received as much scrutiny as law enforcement. Americans are redefining social norms and expecting more professionalism and accountability from law enforcement. One of the areas in law enforcement that has been beneficial, yet not without growing pains, has been the proliferation of body-worn video cameras. An additional facet of American life that has also received a fair amount of attention is trauma and mental illness. Research has shown that early childhood trauma can result in hindered growth resulting in uncontrolled anger, inappropriate behavior, disregard for rules, and drug or alcohol abuse (Rousseau, 2021). These precursors often result in contacts with law enforcement.

In the United States, a growing number of service requests for law enforcement similarly involve police interaction with vulnerable individuals or those experiencing a psychologically based crisis.   A recent study in Scotland revealed that approximately 80% of all calls for service for law enforcement were non-criminal in nature (Gillespie-Smith, 2020).

With this dynamic in mind, scholars in Scotland conducted research where they exposed police personnel to trauma informed practices. Specifically, the study chose one police division and showed them the documentary “Resilience: The Body of Stress and Science of Hope.” The documentary explained how chronic stress releases hormones within the body of children which then results in dysfunction in the minds and bodies of youth. After viewing the film, the police personnel were given an overview of the 1998 Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study and scores. There was a panel of experts available for questions and to provide further context for the data.

Police personnel learned that in Wales, individuals with an ACE score of four or more were twenty times more likely to be incarcerated at some point in their life than the general public (Bellis, 2015).  Similarly, the officers learned that approximately 89% of the prisoners in Wales reported at least one ACE (Gillespie-Smith, 2020). Police personnel who received the trauma informed training were then questioned as to their attitudes and understanding about suspects, witnesses, and victims. The researchers then compared the answers with answers from officers from another police division that did not receive the trauma informed policing training. The answers were not significantly different (Gillespie-Smith, 2020). Many of the officers who received the training expressed confusion about the ACE score research. The officers indicated that the trauma had occurred before their involvement and they failed to see how the new knowledge could benefit their current role. This was a common theme in the feedback from the participants (Gillespie-Smith, 2020).

On its face, the scholarly work in Scotland appeared to be unremarkable. However, if law enforcement agencies in the United States could build upon this trauma informed approach to policing and combine it with the technology of body worn video, real progress could be made. Law enforcement personnel have countless contacts and calls for service with individuals with mental health needs. A trauma informed approach to these calls for service could curtail any use of force and would result in decreasing further trauma to the individual in crisis or the officer.

Law enforcement administrators need to seek out strategies for improved professionalism and techniques for de-escalation. With the use of body worn video, contacts with individuals in crisis or mental health decompensation can be reviewed by law enforcement trainers and mental health professionals to improve officer responses and protocols. All contacts with citizens with mental health needs would be given a unique computerized clearance code making it easier to identify and retrieve the incidents for later review. The review of body worn video would be for educational purposes only, with the goal of improving trauma informed practices for law enforcement personnel. Police agencies could generate training videos from body worn video footage from actual interactions. The videos would include instructional narratives from mental health professionals and would be disseminated to other stations and personnel.  A secondary objective would be to ensure that law enforcement personnel are getting the necessary and timely assistance from mental health agencies. If both agencies can work in a collaborative manner, individuals in crisis might receive professional intervention and proper care instead of a trip to the county jail.

Submitted by: Frederick Morse

Works Cited

Bellis, M. A. (2015). Adverse Childhood Experiences and their Impact on Health-Harming Behaviours in the Welsh Population. Wales: Cardiff: Public Health.

Gillespie-smith, K. B. (2020, August). Moving Towards Trauma-Informed Policing: An Exploration of Police Officer’s Attitudes and Perceptions Toward Adverse Childhood Experinces (ACEs). Retrieved from https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/moving-towards-trauma-informed-policing-an-exploration-of-police-#:~:text=In%202018%20Ayrshire%20Division%20of%20Police%20Scotland%20announced,perceptions%20and%20attitudes%20towards%20becoming%20a%20trauma-in

Rousseau, D. (2021). Trauma and Crisis Intervention. Module 2 Study Guide. Boston University.

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