WASHINGTON POST Mentally ill account for more than a quarter of 461 police shooting deaths so far this year

[gpatt0n]

The Washington Post reported today that they have compiled information documenting 461 police involved shooting deaths so far this year and that of those, 123 or over 25% were confirmed deaths of those who were mentally ill or undergoing extreme mental stress.

 

The website "The Crime Report" noted in their review of the article:

 

The vast majority were armed, but in most cases, the police officers who shot them were not responding to reports of a crime. More often, the officers were called by relatives, neighbors or other bystanders worried that a mentally fragile person was behaving erratically. More than 50 people were explicitly suicidal.

 

More than half the killings involved police agencies that have not given officers with state-of-the-art training to deal with the mentally ill. In many cases, officers responded with tactics that quickly made a volatile situation even more dangerous. The Post said it is providing for the first time a national, real-time tally of the shooting deaths of mentally distraught people at the hands of law enforcement. Criminal justice experts say police are often ill-equipped to respond to such individuals, and that the encounters too often end in needless violence.

 

“This a national crisis,” said Chuck Wexler of the Police Executive Research Forum. “We have to get American police to rethink how they handle encounters with the mentally ill. Training has to change.”

Among the issues pointed out was that this number "461" is higher than any 'full year' figure of officer shooting deaths as reported by the FBI crime statistics, suggesting, of course, the long term inaccuracy of the FBI voluntary reporting system.

 

In regard the need for additional training, the understanding was that the way that officers are currently trained to handle largely armed (often with toy guns or knives) mentally ill individuals is counter-productive in that shouts and commands directed at the disturbed person actually is like pouring gasoline on a fire.

 

The real tragedy is that as often as not, in the case of the mentally ill victims of police force, the family, friends or even the person themselves are who placed the call for help to authorities and their hope is to get help for the individual rather than cause a deadly confrontation.

 

The effort looked into each of the 123 cases so far this year which included a score of veterans from the Gulf wars (and back to Vietnam) who suffered from PTSD as well as a former State Patrolman who was killed by LEO who was also a victim of PTSD. Over half of the 123 victims were white.

 

Cited in an accompanying video is the impact that good training can have in that the San Diego PD, which had been cited and was under federal supervision for excessive use of force, has been trained with techniques that has resulted in no deaths and only one non-fatal shooting incident in the past three years compared with an average of three deaths a year in the years prior to the training.

 

One of the key positive prospects for the future is the inclusion in the requirements for health care of a mental health component. The expansion of mental health coverage to all who are insured - even wholly private plans are required to include it - is expected to increase dramatically the level of mental health delivery in coming years.

 

The provision of such coverage in an expansion of medicaid (which still needs to be done) in states like Georgia would take a great deal of the burden placed on the criminal justice system by the elimination of institutionalized mental health facilities decades ago.

 

pubby

[icare]

Please don't get me started on mental health issues.....my daughter works in that field and it is a mess!! If our government would stop arguing with each other and come together for the people they represent, maybe they could help the VA and the Department of Human Services reorganize and begin making a dent in the tremendous backlog of people that are in dire straits. Our systems....all of them are a mess!

[CitizenCain]

2 Investigates: New questions about handling of GA police shooting

GLYNN COUNTY, Ga. —

 

When Caroline Small graduated from Glynn County's drug court program in 2005, she finally had hope.

But five years later it would be a very different kind of escape during a mental health lapse that would cost her her life.

Caroline Small had been sitting in her car in a hotel parking lot when an officer approached and thought she was using drugs. She wasn't, but she took off anyway.The low-speed chase lasted more than 15 minutes, stop sticks flattened her tires, and a state trooper finally got her stopped up against a telephone pole.

• RAW DASH CAM VIDEO: Officers chase Caroline Small

Then, 2 seconds later, eight bullets enter Small's windshield. But instead of checking to see if Small was alive, the officers discussed their marksmanship.

"I hit her right in the face," Sasser remarks on the recording.

Simpson replies, "I watched the bridge of her nose. I pulled the trigger and I watched it hit her at the same time."

Small lived for five more days without ever waking up.

"There's no question [Caroline] bears a great deal of responsibility for what happened to her," said attorney Bill Atkins who represented the family in a civil case filed against the county, "She deserved to go to jail, she didn't deserve to die."

That civil case never made it to trial either.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/2-investigates-new-questions-about-handling-ga-pol/nmn2F/

Edited July 3, 2015 by CitizenCain

[gpatt0n]

2 Investigates: New questions about handling of GA police shooting

GLYNN COUNTY, Ga. —

 

When Caroline Small graduated from Glynn County's drug court program in 2005, she finally had hope.

But five years later it would be a very different kind of escape during a mental health lapse that would cost her her life.

Caroline Small had been sitting in her car in a hotel parking lot when an officer approached and thought she was using drugs. She wasn't, but she took off anyway.The low-speed chase lasted more than 15 minutes, stop sticks flattened her tires, and a state trooper finally got her stopped up against a telephone pole.

• RAW DASH CAM VIDEO: Officers chase Caroline Small

Then, 2 seconds later, eight bullets enter Small's windshield. But instead of checking to see if Small was alive, the officers discussed their marksmanship.

"I hit her right in the face," Sasser remarks on the recording.

Simpson replies, "I watched the bridge of her nose. I pulled the trigger and I watched it hit her at the same time."

Small lived for five more days without ever waking up.

"There's no question [Caroline] bears a great deal of responsibility for what happened to her," said attorney Bill Atkins who represented the family in a civil case filed against the county, "She deserved to go to jail, she didn't deserve to die."

That civil case never made it to trial either.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/2-investigates-new-questions-about-handling-ga-pol/nmn2F/

 

I just got through reading the AJC article on this same case.

 

Did the wsbtv video touch on Sonny Perdue's willingness to go low to appoint an ambitious woman as the DA in a deal to save the two cops chops.

 

Oh, that one cop already has two knotches on his gun's handle, if he gets three, he may deserve a Dexter episode.

 

pubby

[TJB]

I recently watched comedian Jeff Ross perform a roast at the Brazos County Jail in Texas and the jail warden spoke of the mentally ill being a significant part of their jail population; directly relating to the policies of the 1980's that put the mentally ill out of institutions and into the streets.

[CitizenCain]

 

I just got through reading the AJC article on this same case.

 

Did the wsbtv video touch on Sonny Perdue's willingness to go low to appoint an ambitious woman as the DA in a deal to save the two cops chops.

 

Oh, that one cop already has two knotches on his gun's handle, if he gets three, he may deserve a Dexter episode.

 

pubby

These cops are still on the streets, I can only assume from their comments and glee at killing this woman they are eagerly awaiting their next kill.

Edited July 4, 2015 by CitizenCain

[jennilyn77]

I recently watched comedian Jeff Ross perform a roast at the Brazos County Jail in Texas and the jail warden spoke of the mentally ill being a significant part of their jail population; directly relating to the policies of the 1980's that put the mentally ill out of institutions and into the streets.

I watched that too, it was informative, sad, and funny. I highly recommended it.

[LPPT]

There is an article floating around that claims all the mass murderers over the last decade had been on psychotropic drugs at one time or another.

We know that these drugs can have the exact opposite effects of what they are used for.

Every day my news feed has a mentally ill person killing children, families, and themselves.

I think we have more mental illness than ever before in the history of mankind.

I believe that it will only get worse. I am sure that there is plenty of research into it out there. Unfortunately most of it is being done by pharmaceutical companies. These are only miracle drugs in that they help us when we deal with mental conditions.

I have a theory about why people are experiencing more mental issues than ever.

Our emotional state is on overload and our intellect can not keep up.

Entertainment over the last 50 years is geared towards creating emotional responses in us.

Much of it tends to be negative.

We let so much into our brains through music, tv, the web, and even video games even an avid reader takes in a lot.

Our emotions kick in first, then our brain sorts it into fiction or reality. The emotion is real even in response to a fictional situation. I think reality is harder on us there is no switch to flip to turn the emotion off as we do when we react to fictional situations. I believe that people are seeking more and more fictional entertainment to help themselves cope.

I think real life drama quickly overwhelms people because they are emotionally exhausted.

Our emotions are real and tangible, taking up massive amounts of our brain function.

If the majority of what you are taking in everyday as so called entertainment is creating negative emotions, it is not hard to be overwhelmed by negativity in real life.

For those that have major long term stressful events it can lead to serious mental issues.

I have said many times to be selective in what you expose your mind to. Nobody gets through life without major drama due to real life events.

God only knows why we seek out entertainment to experience negative emotions but I believe we are seeing the results of it.

I believe these breakdowns can happen to anyone, we all have bad things that happen beyond our control. The question is will you be able to handle it when it comes. If you are emotionally exhausted by the entertainment you choose to take in for hours and hours you may not be able to.

[icare]

Many people don't realize that mental illness is very real in our nation....it is a tremendous problems that MUST be addressed! My daughter works in the field and the system that is SUPPOSED to help them is in shambles. Until this problem is addressed this madness will continue. Policemen have no idea when they are dealing with a person that is mentally ill or perfectly normal. None of us know what we would do in the moment. Yes, there are bad cops, just like there are bad doctors, teachers, judges, lawyers, etc.

 

Medicines can help the mentally ill if a doctor prescribes it correctly and the patient takes it correctly (if at all). My MIL is schizophrenic triggered by the death of premature twin girls. She was VERY ill for 20 years until her doctor finally found a combination of drugs that helped her. As long as she take these three meds as prescribed she can function as a perfectly normal person. I have seen the transformation. There is hope if everyone would get it together and truly address this plight. If we keep on with business as usual it is only going to get worse.

[TJB]

I had a student who was bi-polar totally lose it on me and instead of instigating the situation, I let the student vent, stood, a safe distance from him, and sent him to the office. He slammed some doors and damaged some hinges, but nobody was hurt. The following year, he apologized to me and said he wasn't taking his meds. I worry he'll wind up dead someday, especially if he has a confrontation with the police. Perhaps, the police need more training in dealing with the mentally ill or be allowed to carry sedatives to subdue people with psychological issues or be accompanied by mental health professionals on calls where it's suspected someone is mentally ill and dangerous.

[jennilyn77]

I had a student who was bi-polar totally lose it on me and instead of instigating the situation, I let the student vent, stood, a safe distance from him, and sent him to the office. He slammed some doors and damaged some hinges, but nobody was hurt. The following year, he apologized to me and said he wasn't taking his meds. I worry he'll wind up dead someday, especially if he has a confrontation with the police. Perhaps, the police need more training in dealing with the mentally ill or be allowed to carry sedatives to subdue people with psychological issues or be accompanied by mental health professionals on calls where it's suspected someone is mentally ill and dangerous.

I can promise you that those of us parents who have kids that are neurologically different, worry about their kids being misunderstood by authority figures should the occasion arise. Sounds like you handled that the right way. Kudos.

[TJB]

I can promise you that those of us parents who have kids that are neurologically different, worry about their kids being misunderstood by authority figures should the occasion arise. Sounds like you handled that the right way. Kudos.

I was taken aback by the kid's anger and was prepared to defend myself if needed, but I knew I wasn't his issue; there was much more going on. However, I remember the father was on a teleconference saying what his child did wasn't a big deal and that was more frightening than how his son acted. As a society, if we don't do a better job of protecting and caring for the mentally ill, we will have far more school shootings, massacres, and acts of random violence that will fill our jails with people who need help beyond the expertise of law enforcement.