Mental Health Awareness Is Not A Collateral Duty

Written By Allison Sands

According to the Treatment Advocacy Center, people with untreated mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed during a police encounter than other civilians. There is no reliable data on how many people with mental illness are involved in police shootings annually, but studies show that the numbers are troubling—likely between one-third and one-half of total police killings. This is in part due to compliance-based training that is standard for most officers in which police learn to request compliance but quickly move on to force if the person doesn't immediately comply. Under dangerous and uncertain circumstances, in which officers must make quick decisions with limited information, officers often don't have the luxury of asking for compliance twice, or even at all. 

One year ago, Daniel Prude, a father of five from Chicago’s Southwest Side, was visiting his brother in Rochester, NY when he was killed by Rochester police. Daniel was mentally ill, addicted to drugs, and in need of help. Instead of help, Daniel died from asphyxia after police covered his head with a hood and pinned him face down on the ground until he stopped moving. The County medical examiner ruled his death a homicide; however, in the end, a grand jury decided not to bring an indictment against the officers involved.

Daniel Prude - gofundme/police bodycam footage

It’s not easy de-escalating a dangerous situation with someone like Daniel, who at the time of his death was erratic, high on PCP, and threatening police. However, he was also naked and unarmed, and did not deserve to die for acting "erratic." All it takes is seeing the bodycam footage from the arresting officers to be sure that something is wrong here. Those who knew and loved Daniel, those who seek justice, those who dedicate their lives to keeping people safe, and those who hope to rebuild the trust between police and their communities should be outraged by Daniel’s story and so many others like it. We should all be outraged.

It is unfair to police officers that our nation’s mental health crisis has turned mental illness into a police matter. A survey by Responder Strong, an organization that offers mental health services to emergency responders and their families, found that licensed mental health professionals are available in only 68% of urban and 60% of rural areas. 

While the long-term solution is to improve the mental health system so that police are not the primary responders for mental health emergencies, in the meantime, police need to be better trained in recognizing mental illness and de-escalation skills that can help save their own lives as well as those who desperately need their help. 

No officer starts a shift hoping to end a life, a decision made even more complicated when taking the life of someone mentally ill.

Police have the very tough job of making life and death decisions, under pressure, with limited information. It would be unfathomable to send a law enforcement officer into the line of duty without a service weapon, and yet we send them to interact with the public with only the de-escalation skills that they brought along with them to the job. It is tough for even highly trained and seasoned mental health professionals to handle an erratic, dangerous, or unpredictable person suffering from a mental health crisis, and yet these skills are expected of every officer.

We owe it to these officers to provide them with the tools and training they need to conduct the full scope of their duties, which often involves encounters with people who are disturbed, agitated, or mentally ill. We also owe these officers additional resources for processing their own traumas and stressors associated with the job itself. The same survey by Responder Strong found that only 11% of leaders believe that responders feel comfortable discussing their own mental health.

If you or someone you love is experiencing a mental health issue, we strongly encourage you to seek help early and often, prior to needing to call emergency services. 

If you or someone you know is suffering from mental illness:

Allison Sands
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