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A fatal case of methamphetamine poisoning whilst in police custody is described. Drug identification and quantification in postmortem blood, urine, brain and gastric contents was achieved using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The blood concentration of methamphetamine was 4.92 micromol/100 g, which is in the lethal range. It is necessary for police officers to have a good knowledge of the toxic effects of abused drugs.
This paper presents the results of a retrospective analysis of deaths in police custody from 1 January to 31 December 1994. During that year, there were 32 such deaths in the UK. For purposes of analysis, the deaths were grouped into three principal categories based on the frequency of their occurrence: deaths by hanging (12); deaths among those arrested for drunkenness (11) and other deaths (9). By considering the results of this study together with a comprehensive literature review, several strategies for reducing the frequency of deaths in police custody are proposed.
The present study investigated the relationship between anxiety, as measured by the State-Trait Inventory (Spielberger, 1983) and interrogative suggestibility, as measured by the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS 2, Gudjonsson, 1987). One hundred and sixty-one suspects detained at two English police stations for questioning were assessed prior to being interviewed by the police. Unexpectedly, trait anxiety correlated more consistently with suggestibility than did state anxiety. The correlations were consistently higher among the Caucasian than the Afro-Caribbean subjects and the Afro-Caribbean subjects were significantly more suggestible than the Caucasian subjects even after their GSS 2 memory and IQ scores had been controlled for. The main practical implications of the findings are that interrogative suggestibility cannot be easily evaluated from the person's self-reported anxiety and the situation in which people are assessed may influence the relationship between these psychological variables.
A construct validation approach was followed to affirm that 8 physical ability test events were significantly related to two important constructs underlying the job performance of police officers: strength and endurance. A sample of 115 incumbent police officers took 8 physical ability tests and were rated by supervisors on their physical performances in their job. LISREL methods were used to test the model specified, and a reasonable fit was achieved. Portions of the model were tested on an independent sample of 161 applicants; the fit of the model was again acceptable. A nomological network of relationships, in which strength and endurance factors correlated in expected directions with other physiological and demographic variables, was hypothesized and tested. Finally, the data were examined for potential gender differences and bias. Considerable differences were shown between men and women on both test and performance variables, and women would be overpredicted if a common regression line were used for selection purposes.
Police and pastoral power: governmentality and correctional forensic psychiatric nursing Since 1978, the federal inmates of Canada have had access to a full range of psychiatric care within the penitentiary system. Several psychiatric units are now integrated into the correctional services of Canada. This paper presents the results of a grounded theory doctoral study undertaken in a multilevel secured psychiatric ward within the Canadian federal penitentiary system. The author describes and discusses the results of qualitative data that emerged from his fieldwork. The concept of governmentality, as defined by the late French philosopher Michel Foucault, constitutes one of the major theoretical tools that were helpful in analyzing these data. Police and pastoral power, two dimensions of the security apparatus of governmentality, were found to be useful in understanding and characterizing nursing practice caught between the penal and the psychiatric dispositifs. A Foucauldian perspective allows one to understand the manner in which forensic psychiatric nursing is involved in the governance of mentally ill inmates through three forms of power - sovereign, disciplinary and pastoral - which have posited nursing practice as a strategic tool of the correctional services. This research consists of a study of nursing practice in an extreme setting that deserves a radical analysis.
Anna Freud's legacy to child psychoanalysis was her understanding and description of the complexities of development and her ability to apply her findings to the care of children both within and outside of the consulting room. In addition to her approach to consultation with nonanalytic professionals concerned with children's development and well-being, she established a model for generations of child analysts and other analytically oriented clinicians. Both of Ms. Freud's concepts of development and collaboration with other professionals have served as a basis for the implementation of the Child Development-Community Policing Program in New Haven, Connecticut. This collaboration between mental health and police professionals will be described in this paper, with particular emphasis on the application of Ms. Freud's work to attempts to intervene on the behalf of children and families exposed to urban violence.
Post-shooting stress reactions were studied in a large police force to develop a psychological services policy and procedures in support of members of the force. Two empirical studies were conducted using a mail survey of a total of 66 members involved in shootings plus clinical interviews of a sample of these members. The results showed that members experienced most stress reactions within three days of the shooting. The average time for feeling that they were back to normal working, social, and family life was 20 weeks. There was strong support for various proposed psychological services and actions to support members involved in shootings. Recommendations were made concerning the conduct of psychological debriefings, counselling and brief therapy, the use of peer counsellors, services for affected police families, and stress training in the force.
This study concerns deaths that result from police pursuit i.e., high-speed police chases. The case files from the Office of the Medical Examiner of Metropolitan Dade County in Miami, Florida, during the years 1980-1986, were examined. Presented in some detail are 18 cases, along with a discussion of the "patterns" or types of cases involved. Recommendations for future work are then noted.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of vocationally oriented medical rehabilitation (VOMR) carried out in institutions with regard to the use of health-care services, work absenteeism, leisure-time physical activity, musculoskeletal symptoms and physical performance during 112 years of follow-up. The prospective cohort study consisted of 265 patients from four different occupational groups (loggers, hairdressers, police officers and female farmers) who took part in VOMR courses in three inhouse phases, financed by the Finnish Social Insurance Institution, and who had chronic musculoskeletal symptoms in their back and neck. The subjective physical and mental strain of work, subjective neck-shoulder and low-back pain, use of health-care services and leisure-time physical activity were assessed with a questionnaires. The muscle strength of the upper and lower extremities and trunk was determined and maximal VO2 was measured using the direct maximal bicycle ergometer test. The subjective physical and mental strain of work, subjective neck-shoulder and low-back pain and physical performance showed positive significant development and improvement. The changes in the use of health-care services and work absenteeism were minor or insignificant. The general finding was that the results from the second phase of the VOMR courses did not differ from those of the third phase. VOMR courses had a beneficial effect on physical performance and subjective pain caused by neck and back musculoskeletal diseases of farmers, loggers, police officers and hairdressers within 112 years of follow-up, but VOMR courses did not decreased the use of health-care services.
Alcohol use is an important problem among personnel in the high-stress police occupation. The impact of occupational demands, psychological distress, and coping on police alcohol consumption are explored. Results indicate that psychological distress, as an intervening factor between work demands and alcohol use itself, has an important positive effect on alcohol use.
The relationship between the occupation of police officer and ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality was examined through case-control studies using 1968/78 death certificate records from Rhode Island and Utah. IHD was divided into two subcategories--acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and other IHD. In both states, the odds ratio (OR) for AMI was significantly elevated (Rhode Island, OR = 1.3; Utah, OR = 1.8), and was higher than the OR for other IHD (Rhode Island, OR = 1.1; Utah, OR = 1.4). The odds ratio for AMI was higher in the less than 65 yr age group (Rhode Island, OR = 2.1; Utah, OR = 2.1) than in the greater than or equal to 65 yr age group (Rhode Island, OR = 0.9; Utah, OR = 1.6). These results suggest that the elevated risk for IHD among police officers observed in this and other studies is primarily due to an elevated risk for AMI. The pattern of diminishing risk with age suggests a risk factor, possibly stress, the effect of which diminishes when exposure ceases at retirement.
Police officers (n = 514) were studied to determine the relationship between physical fitness capacity and annual absenteeism rate. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that for officers aged 34 years and younger, only 5% of the variability in absenteeism could be accounted for by age, sex, and physical fitness variables. For officers 35 years old and older, 7% of the variability was explained by these variables, and a bicycle ergometer score was a significant predictor of absenteeism. Each individual test and an overall physical fitness score were classified into five levels. ANOVAs revealed no significant differences between overall fitness levels and absenteeism. However, men 35 and over who were most fit on the bicycle ergometer test had fewer absences, and women 34 and under who were thinnest had more absences. In conclusion, at least among police officers, the extent to which physical fitness capacity can predict absenteeism is low.
BACKGROUND: New Zealand Police regulations (1996) allow the unaided visual acuity requirement of 6/12 to be achieved following refractive surgery (except radial keratotomy or keratoplasty) provided applicants also achieve normal (95 per cent confidence limit data from the literature): glare disability, contrast sensitivity, and low luminance visual acuity, one year or more after treatment. METHODS: To confirm the limits adopted, 80 young normal adults were subjected to the tests in the regulations. To examine the operation of the current standards, the results of 34 post-photorefractive keratectomy (post-PRK) police applicants are reported. Glare disability was the loss of high contrast visual acuity (VA) with the Mentor Brightness Acuity Tester at medium intensity. Contrast sensitivity (CS) was examined using both Melbourne Edge Test thresholds and the VA difference between high and low contrast Bailey-Lovie charts. Low luminance VA was measured using high contrast Bailey-Lovie charts viewed through a one per cent transmittance filter. RESULTS: The 95 per cent confidence limits found for normal performance were as follows. Glare disability: no more than 10 letters worse than VA without glare. Contrast sensitivity: no more than 12 letters difference between high contrast and low contrast letter acuity together with an edge contrast threshold of not less than 20 dB (CS = 100). These results were close to the values adopted for the current standard. The 95 per cent confidence limit for low luminance VA was a loss of 24 letters (almost five lines) and not the three lines of loss estimated from the literature. Two of the 34 post-PRK applicants failed. One was unable to achieve 6/6 acuity with best refraction. The second could not meet the low luminance VA limit (loss no more than three lines). No failures have been due to glare disability or poor contrast sensitivity even though one applicant had obvious corneal haze.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of undercover police stings and lawsuits against gun dealers suspected of facilitating illegal gun sales in three US cities (Chicago, Detroit, Gary) on the flow of new firearms to criminals. METHODS: An interrupted time series design and negative binomial regression analyses were used to test for temporal change in the recovery of guns used in crimes within one year of retail sale in both intervention and comparison cities. RESULTS: The stings were associated with an abrupt 46.4% reduction in the flow of new guns to criminals in Chicago (95% confidence interval, -58.6% to -30.5%), and with a gradual reduction in new crime guns recovered in Detroit. There was no significant change associated with the stings in Gary, and no change in comparison cities that was coincident with the stings in Chicago and Detroit. CONCLUSIONS: The announcement of police stings and lawsuits against suspect gun dealers appeared to have reduced the supply of new guns to criminals in Chicago significantly, and may have contributed to beneficial effects in Detroit. Given the important role that gun stores play in supplying guns to criminals in the US, further efforts of this type are warranted and should be evaluated.
The growing demand by consumers and government for greater accountability from psychiatry is challenging the traditional system of self-policing by which the profession's standards of ethical conduct are established and maintained. The authors describe the operations of a district branch ethics committee, including types of complaints recieved, investigatory procedures, disposition of cases, and factors limiting the committee's effectiveness. They conclude that in some cases lack of funds, lack of time, and the use of peers to judge alleged misconduct make unbiased and thorough evaluation of complaints difficult. They suggest that psychiatry must take steps to improve public confidence in its ability to police itself so that the power to regulate professional conduct will remain within the profession.
A sample of 309 police officers in Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio, were interviewed about their contacts with mentally ill individuals and about their need for various kinds of information and assistance from the mental health system. During a one-month period, almost 60 percent of the officers had responded to at least one call involving a presumably mentally ill person, and 42 percent had responded to more than one such call. Twenty-two percent had dealt with a presumably mentally ill person who was also mentally retarded. Police officers indicated that they most needed access to information about an individual's past history of violence or suicide attempts, and quick on-site assistance by mental health professionals in assessing suicidal or hostile mentally ill persons.
The expansion of community based psychiatric care and the discharge of long-stay psychiatric inpatients may lead to an increase in police contacts with the mentally ill. This describes the demographic and clinical profiles of these patients and reviews the problems which may be encountered by the police in the recognition, management and appropriate referral of the mentally ill.
A one-year prospective study comparing Section 136 patients (39) and the severe Section 2 or 4 patients (29) of the Mental Health Act 1983 in a hospital with inner London catchment areas. The assessments were clinical, nurses' ratings and socio-demographic. The results showed that clinical and nursing ratings did not differentiate the two groups. Most social/demographic data showed similar trends with both groups being disadvantaged but Section 136 patients slightly more so. The differences were smaller than anticipated, suggesting a recent shift of patients admitted under Section 2 or 4 towards a more socially disadvantaged position. In conclusion, police did not overuse Section 136. Our comparison suggests: (a) police may underuse Section 136, and (b) Section 136 acts as a valuable 'back-up' for those patients who would otherwise fail to benefit from the Mental Health Act.