Regulating Mental Illness as Part of the Professional Duties of District Police in Russia

Abstract

This paper explores how work with mentally ill people is incorporated within the everyday activities of district police. Two aspects emerge from qualitative data: 1) the institutional forces of preventive control and everyday work routine that are exercised by district police towards the special social category of “people with a mental disorder”; 2) mechanisms driving the categorization of citizens (both registered and non-registered with the police) by policemen and their everyday strategies of interaction.  The paper is based on qualitative data collected in 2007 and in 2011-2012 in Kazan.  District policemen are charged with the duty to conduct preventive work and control over people showing signs of mental disorder. However, given the very high workloads faced by district police of caseload the implementation of this control is no more than nominal. District police lack the professional skills required to estimate the mental condition of an individual or provide effective psychological assistance. However, in the case of an accident such as suicide or an attack, district police would  officially be responsible for it. This fact explains the existence of permanent anxieties among district police and their rapid response to any information regarding an urgent case involving mentally ill people. District police often have to deal with the problem of hospitals and doctors refusing to hospitalize “dangerous” people who are suffering from mental disorder. As such, officers have to elaborate their own methods for handling such citizens. However, in contrast to Western models of policing, district police in Russia are not expected to provide any forms of social help or care to citizens. Although the Russian police work in very close proximity to communities, they mainly operate on the principle of exercising vigorous control over this population.