Death and injury are far too common when a mentally ill or unstable person comes in contact with the police.
Rather than repeating the past, it’s vital to train officers to handle these situations better and to equip the community to aid the mentally ill when they need it so they don’t have to use needless force.
When officers work alongside the community to help those with mental illness, far fewer tragedies occur.
Death & Injury Involving the Police Are Common
Those with mental health problems are more than ten times more likely to have negative interactions with the police involving force. Even worse, they’re four times more likely to be killed by police than those without mental health problems.
From 2017 to 2020, 356 people were killed by police while having a mental health episode. The reasons police responded to these calls were listed as “mental illness, erratic behavior, and suicide.”
Even worse, none of these people were noted as having a weapon or being dangerous to others. During this same period, only one officer was killed while “handling [a] person with mental illness.” But yet, those 356 unarmed people were seen as dangerous enough to kill. Why?
Conversely, in 2002, only 0.016% of assaulted U.S. officers were attacked by a mentally ill person. Only 0.024% of U.S. officers killed between 1993 and 2002 were killed by a mentally ill person.
Police encounters are far more dangerous for a mentally ill person than they are for a police officer.
When Do Those With Mental Illness Come In Contact With The Police?
The U.S. Department of Justice says these are the five most common scenarios in which mentally ill persons encounter police:
- A concerned person calls the police during a mental health crisis (often family or friends).
- A mentally ill person feels suicidal and calls the police for help.
- A mentally ill person is being disruptive in public.
- A mentally ill person is acting unusually, and a member of the public calls the police because they feel threatened.
- A mentally ill person is feeling threatened (usually by an imaginary threat) and calls the police for help.
Police Shootings That Happened Because Of Mental Health Crisis
Interacting with police when having a mental health crisis can be terrifying, and, of course, the mentally ill person is unlikely to understand the police are there to help them.
His Situation Could Have Turned Out Much Different
Fredrick Vars—a highly educated Princeton and Yale Law School graduate—describes his first psychotic episode as a “pivotal” moment in his life despite barely remembering it.
Fortunately, Vars’ experience turned out okay because he listened to the officer as he leaned over him intimidatingly, saying, “You need to get on the gurney now.”
But, Vars says that if he had been combative like many going through a mental health crisis, the outcome likely would have been much different.
He says the scariest part of this interaction is how little control he had over himself.
“I was in the grip of extreme mania and my first psychotic episode. I threw a sock out of the window as a signal to a secret cabal. In my mind, I had beaten God in a game of poker and had unlocked the secrets of the universe. I refused to sleep and refused to get dressed.
There is no question I was seriously impaired, but was I dangerous? In hindsight, the answer is plainly no.”
His Situation Did Turn Out Much Differently
47-year-old Donald Armstrong was left paralyzed by police on March 7th after his mother called them for help because he was having a mental breakdown.
Officers say Armstrong was possibly armed with a sharp object, but when they shot him, he didn’t appear to be a threat.
He was holding what looked like a knife or screwdriver and was clearly in a poor mental state as he told officers to “Shoot! Shoot in the heart.”
Officers asked him to move away from a child and, shortly after, hit him twice with a stun gun. Armstrong began falling forward as a result of being hit by the stun gun, and an officer shot him six times as he fell.
So Did His
Police killed 41-year-old Clifford Brooks on January 24 after having a mental health episode.
Officers handled the situation well initially despite being left to their own devices. They spent two hours de-escalating the situation while talking to Brooks and got him into an ambulance, where he was being treated.
Unfortunately, the paramedic inside was not adequately equipped to handle Brooks’ mental health episode, and Brooks escaped after attacking her.
Police intervened again, getting into a physical altercation that involved pepper spray. Brooks ran away again and headed into traffic before hiding under a truck.
Officers called for backup, but when Brooks emerged from the truck, he was holding a metal object (likely a tire gauge) and began running toward an officer. The officer yelled at Brooks to “drop it” before shooting him five times at close range. Brooks died on the scene.
How Should Police Departments Handle Mental Health Crises?
The U.S. Department of Justice developed a guide to help officers “analyze and address a problem they have already identified.” They emphasize that what may work in one area of the country may not work in another and that officers must decide what is best for their departments.
The Police Need Help
There is not a “one-size-fits-all” solution to handling mental health problems. In most cases involving someone experiencing a mental health episode, the person needs help from multiple people in many ways.
The entire community should be involved in getting the person the help they need.
Here are short definitions of the steps that need to take place to handle mental health crises, according to the U.S. Department of Justice:
- The police should collaborate with mental health professionals to receive training and help during emergencies.
- Emergency hospitals should be available to take persons amid a mental health crisis. Police can transport the person in crisis to these hospitals.
- Police liaison officers should be appointed to advocate for those with mental health conditions.
- Generalist police officers should receive training for dealing with persons with mental health conditions.
Even though they must handle mental health crises, most cops are not adequately trained to deal with these situations. 61% of British police officers feel unequipped to handle people having a mental health episode, according to one study mentioned by the U.S. Department of Justice. Likewise, 47% of Pennsylvania police say they are not “qualified to manage persons with mental illness,” according to another study.
Despite their lack of training, officers frequently interact with people with mental illness. About 5% of those living in the United States have a severe mental illness. On top of that, about 10 to 15% of those in jail or prison suffer from a severe mental health illness.
Many states have already implemented mental-health-based training, which is required by law. Many others are putting their officers through these trainings despite not being required by law. Still, many departments are not receiving this type of training.
- Patrol officers should have information about clinics, shelters, and mental health services in their community.
They should also have access to a database of people in the community with known mental health conditions. This information can prepare them before going into a situation with said person.
- Police should use less-lethal weapons when resolving threatening situations fails. Pepper spray and stun guns are often very effective.
- Specialist police officers trained in handling mental health situations should be deployed when issues arise.
- Specialized non-police officers (such as social workers and mental health clinicians) should be deployed when issues arise in place of, or in combination with, police officers.
- Assisted outpatient treatment that ensures the adherence to prescribed treatment by those in the community suffering from mental health conditions.
- Crisis response sites should be available for police to transport persons who are having a mental health episode. These would act as an alternative to jail or hospital emergency rooms.
- Jail-based diversion, where police officers move arrested persons from jail immediately after booking once it’s been determined they are having a mental health crisis.
- Putting mental health courts in place who are better educated and equipped to hear cases involving those with mental health conditions.
- Protecting victims of repeat crimes—both those with mental health conditions and those who are victims of persons with mental health conditions.
- Availability of services to victims of crimes and information about mental illness.
- Identifying persons with mental illness who are repeat criminals.
- Identifying persons with mental health problems who cause repeat disturbances that are not a crime and are not putting anyone in danger.
- Identifying those with mental illness who repeatedly make false, imaginary, or trivial calls to the police.
- Identifying hot spots where crime, calls for service, and disorderly conduct most frequently occur.
- Regulating mental health facilities more effectively to ensure they remain compliant and are providing adequate care.
Likewise, as police and other officials learn and begin to know better, they should do better. They should retire outdated tools and tactics and update how they handle things as they learn what works better.
Will We Learn From History Or Repeat The Past?
Tragedy occurs far too often when police officers are left to handle mental health crises on their own, especially when they haven’t received proper training.
Officers must learn how to handle different mental health situations to reduce situations like Vars’, Armstrong’s, and Brooks.’
But that isn’t all.
Police departments need to work with community members like hospitals and mental health professionals to reduce these tragedies further and truly help those suffering from mental health episodes.
Wrongful Death Attorney From Police Shooting or Excessive Force
Hopefully, as more police departments implement the steps outlined by the U.S. Department of Justice, we will see less death and violence and more help for those with mental illness.
In the meantime, we can’t wait for justice to run its course on its own—if you have had a loved one seriously injured or died during a health crisis at the hands of police, we want to hear your case.
