Consultation with the Police: An Example of Community Psychiatry Practice
ALAN M. ELKINS M.D.1, and
GEORGE O. PAPANEK M.D.1
1 Division of Community Psychiatry, St. Luke's Hospital Center, Amsterdam Avenue at 114th Street, New York, N. Y. 10025
A part of the psychiatrist's potential contribution as consultant to community agents lies in his special skills in understanding the subtleties of communication among individuals and groups. The author's consultation with the local police in a predominantly Puerto Rican area helped to open the channels of communication between patrolmen and the local population and thus to ease the tensions which threatened community progress.
