Compulsory mental commitments by police under fire

BEIJING - Mental patients who pose danger to others but are unable to consent to hospital admission should not be forced into mental hospitals by law enforcement officers, as the move may infringe upon the freedom of citizens, experts said.

Currently, police can send people they deem to be mentally ill or a threat to public security to psychiatric hospitals to receive compulsory treatment. According to official statistics, China has 18 million people suffering serious mental disorders.

However, cases in which law enforcement officers abuse their power to send someone who is healthy to an asylum for compulsory mental health treatment have made headlines from time to time. This tarnishes the image of the professional mental health sector, said a veteran clinical psychiatrist surnamed Tian.