Abstract
The purpose of this article is threefold: (1) to emphasize the role of community policing as an important component in community support for seriously mentallyill persons (SMI) residing in the community, (2) to analyze current training initiatives for law enforcement officers (LEOs) interacting in the community with SMI persons, and (3) to present guidelines for implementing policies and procedures to increase the effectiveness of community interactions and reduce potentially violent incidents between LEOs and SMI persons. Community policing is defined by Meese (1993), and Moore & Trojanowicz (1988) as the use of sophisticated investigative problemsolving techniques while interacting cooperatively with community institutions (e.g., families, schools, neighborhood associations, merchant groups, social service agencies, and mental health agencies) to create safe secure communities.