Americans with mental illnesses make up nearly a quarter of those killed by police officers, Pete Earley, whose mentally ill son has twice been shot with stun guns by police officers, has written for The Washington Post. As Earley also points out, 115 police officers have been killed since the 1970s by individuals with untreated serious mental illnesses.
Are there any promising solutions? There appear to be.
Some cities have had success moving more mental health treatment including emergency response out of the criminal justice system. And many advocates for better policing have called for an expansion of these efforts, as part of shifting some police funding to other areas. This is the only medical illness that we use criminal justice to respond to, John Snook, the executive director of the Treatment Advocacy Center, told Vice.
One alternative: Eugene, Ore., routes some 911 calls like many involving mental illness or homelessness to an emergency health service, the White Bird Clinic. Last year, the clinic received 24,000 such calls Ebony Morgan, a White Bird crisis worker, told National Public Radio. In fewer than 1 percent of those cases did White Bird need to call for police backup as part of its response.
Its hard not to wonder whether Daniel Prude would still be alive if his brother had been able to call medical professionals instead of the police.
Law enforcement agents shot and killed an antifa supporter yesterday when they went to arrest him in the fatal shooting of a right-wing activist in Portland, Ore. Officers reported that the suspect 48-year-old Michael Forest Reinoehl was armed.read more
Mental Health as Crime
