Chapter VI: Improving Collaboration, discusses the importance of formal agreements between the criminal justice system and mental health system components on the roles and responsibilities of each partner.  The following checklist outlines particular areas of such agreements that are specific to the concerns of law enforcement and mental health professionals when developing agreements. (See Policy Statement 26: Institutionalizing the Partnership, for more on elements of successful agreements.)

• What emergency detention authority do officers have and how will custodial transfer occur? It must include protections for taking the person into custody and provide liability protection as long as they are in custody.  Partners will need to know what existing authority (local laws, indemnity clauses, and state statutes) may impact rights and obligations.
• What information can be shared under what circumstances? Confidentiality provisions for verbal or document exchange should address what will happen when information is included in either police or mental health reports that relates to an ongoing criminal investigation or to a mental health treatment plan. (See Policy Statement 25: Sharing Information.)
• How do law enforcement officers make the determination whether or not to place a person with mental illnesses in custody for transport to a mental health facility?  It is important to specify rules based on how the person gets to the facility - in custody or voluntarily. 
• When does responsibility actually shift from the on-scene responder to a mental health professional? (This could be at the scene, by phone, in a waiting room, etc.) There must be clarification of the point at which the responsibility to provide services transfers from one entity to the other.
• What intervention (such as an advocacy service) is available when a person suspected of having a mental illness is being held in a holding cell and is in need of services but who does not qualify for emergency evaluation?
• What liability protection is in place? Liability suits are related to practice, custom, policy, or accepted standards of care. The premise under liability law is that an officer cannot be sued for general duty to protect someone from being victimized, injured, or killed.  However, if through a partnership a law enforcement agency creates a new special duty that it is later unable to fulfill, departments and/or officers can be held liable. Law enforcement counsel should consider whether any agreement creates a new special duty to the individual that would create liability if breached. Each party should be held liable for its own agents' actions. If the memorandum of understanding (MOU) is carefully structured, a breach resulting in litigation would not focus on it being a joint venture with shared liability.
• What are the budgetary considerations?  Cost or funding responsibilities must be addressed.