Peirspictiochtai

Peirspictiochtai Ar An Saol

Among the most difficult situations faced by law enforcement officers are ones that involve individuals with mental health difficulties.

These could be individuals with specific mental health diseases, people with developmental disabilities, and persons facing difficulties that they are unable to deal with at specific moments in time.

These could be individuals contemplating suicide or individuals viewing others as threats that need to be eliminated.

Efforts to resolve these types of circumstances might be complicated when individuals do not understand the gravity of the situations they are facing. Individuals threatening themselves or others might not have the mental capacity – at that moment in time – to understand how their actions or inactions might impact themselves or others.

Law enforcement officers trained in methods to de-escalate situations might find that those techniques might not work well with individuals with mental health difficulties.

Law enforcement entities that follow the principles of Zero-Based Law Enforcement could take actions that help to mitigate circumstances that involve individuals with mental health challenges.

One method would be to have mental health professionals as integral components of the law enforcement entity itself.

Not just on call.

Not just when needed.

But as part of the law enforcement entity.

It should be noted that law enforcement itself involves a variety of components and many types of jobs within the law enforcement workforce.

Not everyone in law enforcement carries a badge and a gun.

Not everyone in law enforcement drives in a marked vehicle.

Two examples: Crossing guards and parking enforcement officers.

In some communities, the individuals who serve as crossing guards to help children across roadways to go to and from school are members of their community's law enforcement entity. Crossing guards are typically unarmed and don't drive marked vehicles.

Likewise, parking enforcement in some communities is done by individuals who are members of their community's law enforcement entity. Parking enforcement officers are also typically unarmed and walk their "beats" rather than driving marked vehicles.

In both cases, these types of workers serve specific functions that are important to their communities.

In some communities, mental health professionals are on call to help in situations where their knowledge and skills could be of help.

The ability, though, to utilize those mental health professionals on a routine basis is limited in many communities.

In some cases, the mental health professionals are not directly employed as part of the law enforcement entity. Instead, they might be employed by third-party providers independent of any law enforcement entity.

Availability of the mental health professionals might be limited to "regular" office hours during weekdays.

Up to two-thirds of the week – nighttime hours, weekends, and holidays – might not have access to mental health professionals.

In communities where mental health professionals have been integrated to some extent within the law enforcement entity, access might be limited because the number of mental health professionals does not match the need for this type of service within the specific community.

Through Zero-Based Law Enforcement, mental health services would become part of law enforcement services. Mental health professionals would accompany law enforcement officers to situations that might involve the need for mental health services.

Mental health professionals would not be dispatched on every call for law enforcement, but would be dispatched as needed.

If it is determined that mental health services are not needed for a specific situation, the mental health professionals could leave that scene and be available for dispatch to other situations where mental health services might be needed.

Mental health professionals would be available at all hours of the day and night.

There would be no weekend or holiday when mental health services would not be available.

Third-party mental health services could be utilized as backup services in extreme circumstances, but the concept of Zero-Based Law Enforcement would be to have a workforce of mental health professionals that would be of sufficient size to meet routine needs within the specific community.

Law enforcement officers could utilize the advice and expertise of mental health professionals as they strive to resolve situations.

This could result in less of a need for law enforcement officers to arrest people facing mental health challenges.

This could result in less of a need for law enforcement officers to put themselves and others in harm's way when other options – through mental health services – could be utilized to resolve such situations.

This could result in lower rates of injuries and deaths of law enforcement officers, individuals facing mental health difficulties, and others involved in these types of situations.

The next news column in this series will focus on how law enforcement officers could focus on routine enforcement of pedestrian-related infrastructure and related environmental factors through Zero-Based Law Enforcement.

Peirspictiochtai Ar A Saol – Gaelic – Irish – for "Perspectives On Life" is a column focused on aspects of accountability and responsibility as well as ways people look at life.

Contact Richard McDonough at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

© 2026 Richard McDonough

Peirspictiochtai Ar An Saol

Zero-Based Law Enforcement
Part Nine

Disputes between family members, neighbors, friends, and strangers can devolve into situations where law enforcement officers may need to get involved. While situations that involve violence or attempted violence typically involve law enforcement officers taking direct actions – arrests, for example – situations that don't involve violence or attempted violence don't necessarily require law enforcement officers to take actions like arrests.

Peirspictiochtai Ar An Saol

Zero-Based Law Enforcement
Part Eight

Additional types of proactive endeavors – activities that could be taken by law enforcement officers striving to minimize the likelihood of criminal activity before it happens – possible through Zero-Based Law Enforcement include several items below.

Vacation Watch programs could be implemented by law enforcement officers working with residents who plan to be away from their homes. Law enforcement officers could drive by or walk by each participating home each day to identify any things that could indicate someone was not home. If they see mail, packages, newspapers, or other items in front of a home, they could pick up the items and have the items held at the local law enforcement station. When the residents who had been on vacation come back home, they could retrieve their items at the local law enforcement station.

Peirspictiochtai Ar An Saol

Zero-Based Law Enforcement
Part Seven

Proactivity is one of several philosophical aspects of Zero-Based Law Enforcement. The concept is that instead of waiting for criminal activity to occur, law enforcement officers strive to minimize the likelihood of criminal activity before it happens.

Some specific types of proactive endeavors that could be taken through Zero-Based Law Enforcement are detailed below.

In commercial districts, law enforcement officers could check the entrances to each establishment in each building every night to make sure that the entrances are closed and locked. The timing of these checks could be varied each day so that potential criminals would not know when the entrances would likely be checked by law enforcement officers.

Peirspictiochtai Ar An Saol

Zero-Based Law Enforcement
Part Six

Zero-Based Law Enforcement incorporates several philosophical aspects. One of those aspects is proactivity. In other words, instead of waiting for criminal activity to occur, Zero-Based Law Enforcement strives to minimize the likelihood of criminal activity before it happens.

Consider how fire fighting has evolved in many communities throughout the United States.

Fire fighting services used to focus on fighting fires.

Obvious? Of course.

Peirspictiochtai Ar An Saol

Zero-Based Law Enforcement
Part Five

Law enforcement officers using Problem Solving as their practice focus their attention on a specific situation involving one or more people. The goal – as the name implies – is to solve a specific problem. This could involve a criminal act, steps being taken to avoid a future criminal act, or have nothing to do with an actual crime.

An example of the first type is when law enforcement officers are investigating a residential break-in where a car was stolen. In addition to interviewing the residents at the affected home as well as neighbors, law enforcement officers may utilize a number of techniques to solve this type of crime. These include trying to find evidence at the impacted property – in the garage, in the house, or elsewhere on the property; to find evidence related to the automobile itself; to find evidence from nearby properties and roadways; and to find evidence from other criminal acts that may be related to this specific crime.

Peirspictiochtai Ar An Saol

Zero-Based Law Enforcement
Part Four

Law enforcement officers using Targeted Arrests for Prosecution as their practice focus their attention on a specific individual believed to have committed a specific criminal act or acts or on specific persons believed to be involved in specific criminal acts.

An example of the first type is when evidence has been collected that points to a specific individual who has committed a specific criminal act. Law enforcement officers may utilize a variety of techniques in their attempts to locate and arrest that specific individual so that that specific individual can be prosecuted for the specific crime.

Peirspictiochtai Ar An Saol

Zero-Based Law Enforcement
Part Three

Law enforcement officers using Revenue Source as their practice focus on ways to generate funds – revenue – for a specific governmental entity or entities. With this practice, the priority is raising money. Not necessarily solving the underlying problem or stopping future similar situations.

An example of this practice is a "speed trap." Typically, speed traps are set up on specific sections of roadways where law enforcement officials recognize that many people drive their motor vehicles at speeds above the legal limits.

These sections of roadways can vary from a street that travels the length of a large hill to an avenue with a low speed limit in a congested area that opens to a straight-line road with the same low speed limit.