Too often, we as a society are left frustrated at the news of another death or act of violence against citizens by the police. Marginalized groups of people are most vulnerable to these attacks by those sworn to protect them. We often hear about the effects of police brutality on people of color, but another group that faces an extensive amount of police violence are persons with mental illnesses. Due to the extremely limited resources for correct care for people with mental disorders in need, the police often have limited solutions for handling calls involving people with mental illnesses (Engel, 2015, p. 247). Because police are not well trained to deal with these encounters, people with mental illnesses are four times more likely than those without mental illness to die at the hands of the police (Baker and Pillinger, 2019, p. 675). Though there are currently efforts to help subside this issue, not enough time and resources are being invested in preventing these unjust killings.
Police interaction with people with mental disorders increased in the 1970s after the shift from long-stay hospitalization to community-based care (Baker and Pillinger, 2019, p. 676). This caused police to act in the role of “street corner psychiatrist,” though they lack the skills or expertise necessary to deal with these situations properly (Baker and Pillinger, 2019, p. 676). And because police lack training in diffusing situations involving people with mental illnesses, they will make split-second decisions using their own discretion (Baker and Pillinger, 2019, p. 676). The problem with this is that “only 47% [of police officers] stated that they felt confident responding to crisis calls involving PMI [people with mental illnesses], whereas 49% said they felt uneasy, worried or threatened” (Baker and Pillinger, 2019, p. 676). So, half of the surveyed police officers expressed that they do not feel comfortable responding to calls involving people with mental illness. This means they rarely enter these calls with a clear head; they walk in with preconceived notions about the dangerousness of the situation.
The overarching problem is the stereotypes and stigmatization of people with mental illnesses. When police respond to calls for help involving people with mental illnesses, they often react based on stereotypical behaviors, which causes them to view people with mental illnesses as “unpredictable, dangerous, and violent” (Baker and Pillinger, 2019, p. 676). In general, police will “change their tactical approach during encounters based on the way they interpret citizens’ behaviors” (Engel, 2015, p. 248). The issues continue as a result of US police officers being “trained to not back down from confrontation” (Baker and Pillinger, 2019, p. 681). Police are too quick to use force when they are in an unfamiliar situation instead of using it as a last resort, and these inaccurate perceptions of how dangerous people with mental disorders can be are hindering this population from getting the help they need in emergencies (Baker and Pillinger, 2019, p. 676).
Police have made some attempts to make up for their lack of knowledge about how to interact with people with mental illnesses, mostly through Crisis Intervention Training (CIT). CITs “aim to foster effective working partnerships between police, local mental health providers, PMIs and their families” as well as encourage officers “to de-escalate crises, and facilitate referrals to the mental health system in order to reduce the number of PMIs involved in the criminal justice system” (Baker and Pillinger, 676-677). In CIT, police officers and dispatchers can choose to take part in 40 hours of training that teach them de-escalation skills and crisis intervention techniques along with identification of those with mental illness. Evidence has shown that this training has positive outcomes such as: reducing the number of arrests of people with mental illness, making officers feel more confident in interactions with people with mental illnesses, and more, but the predicament is that there are not enough police who are opting to take part in this training (Baker and Pillinger, 2019, p. 676). Many do not want CIT to become a “box-ticking exercise” that police do because they have to, they want fully invested officers who care (Baker and Pillinger, 2019, p. 682). Though the concern that this training would become a begrudging obligation is valid, it is more concerning that lives are at risk because police may not know how to properly handle a situation in need of crisis intervention.
The real problem lies in the fact that we expect the police, who are there to enforce laws, to act as a healthcare service (Baker and Pillinger, 2019, p. 682). If police cannot handle all situations presented to them, there need to be other services in place that can help in different types of crises. People should be able to call for help when someone with a mental illness needs assistance and not have to worry about whether they will make it out unharmed or alive. An immediate change in the system is necessary, or we will lose more and more lives to unprovoked brutality.
References:
Baker, D., & Pillinger, C. (2020). “If You call 911 they are going to kill me”: families’ experiences of mental health and deaths after police contact in the United States.
Policing & Society, 30(6), 674–687. DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2019.1581193
Engel, R. S. (2015). Police Encounters with People with Mental Illness. Criminology & Public Policy, 14(2), 247–251. DOI:10.1111/1745-9133.12146
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