B024 Police Killings and Mental Illness
Approximately one-quarter of people shot by the police in the U.S. in 2017 were reportedly suffering from situations of mental illness and distress . These statistics run in continuity with studies from the previous three decades, which indicate that perhaps even “half of the people shot and killed by police each year in this country have mental health problems” . The reality of this excessive use of force is that lives are destroyed, families and communities devastated. Situations which call for crisis intervention instead turn to episodes of violence These episodes are preventable, however, if systemic changes are made in how police officers understand their role as they respond to people in mental illness. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings-2017 http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/home-page/71-featured-articles/2846-people-with-mental-illness-four-times-more-likely-to-be-shot-and-killed-by-police.
Explanation
Approximately one-quarter of people shot by the police in the U.S. in 2017 were reportedly suffering from situations of mental illness and distress . These statistics run in continuity with studies from the previous three decades, which indicate that perhaps even “half of the people shot and killed by police each year in this country have mental health problems” . The reality of this excessive use of force is that lives are destroyed, families and communities devastated. Situations which call for crisis intervention instead turn to episodes of violence These episodes are preventable, however, if systemic changes are made in how police officers understand their role as they respond to people in mental illness. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings-2017 http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/home-page/71-featured-articles/2846-people-with-mental-illness-four-times-more-likely-to-be-shot-and-killed-by-police.