Police Officers, Police Surgeons and the Intellectually Disabled (From Intellectually Disabled Offenders, P 37-45, 1987, Dennis Challinger, ed. -- See NJC-109708)

• NCJ Number: 109710
• Author(s): J P Bush
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 9 pages
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology; National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: For microfiche, see NCJ-109708.

Annotation

This paper describes the work of police surgeons in Victoria, Australia, in dealing with intellectually disabled (ID) suspects and offenders, notes some of the problems, and suggests how they may be addressed.

Abstract

When police observe problem behavior they believe may be rooted in a medical problem, they may consult a police surgeon, who is a medical practioner employed to assist the police in matters reqiring a medical opinion. Police surgeons may deal with ID offenders through referral to a specialized institution, the court, a special accommodation, family or other support, the Salvation Army or similar institution, or a psychiatric hospital. The police surgeon often has difficulty in assessing the mental health or intellectual status of a person because there is rarely any knowledge of the person's past history, the person is often encountered in the context of violence or aggression. The fragmentation and inadequacies of mental health services in Victoria have compounded the problem of identifying and serving ID persons. In 1979 a Police Mental Health Services Liaison Committee was established to consider and monitor problems in police and mental health service's management of ID and mentally ill persons. Five case histories and some other associated problems are presented.