Two killings by police, in Oregon and West Virginia, point to failures to support people with mental illness. The number of people experiencing mental illness killed by police is unknown, despite a law requiring the data to be kept.
The FBI tries to collect the statistics, but for the first quarter of this year it estimated that only 40% of all sworn law enforcement agencies submitted use-of-force numbers. That figure is far below the participation level necessary to justify policy changes.
Hannah Wesolowski, chief advocacy officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said the deaths of Castillo and Jones “highlight a larger systemic problem that we have in helping people who are struggling with their mental health or are in a mental health crisis.” Lt. Nathan Sheppard, a Portland Police Bureau spokesperson, said he couldn’t confirm those numbers. He emphasized that all Portland police officers receive crisis intervention training. The department also established a unit to coordinate the response of law enforcement and the behavioral health system to people in crisis from mental illness and drug or alcohol addiction.
“He never did that. He never rushed him,” Arcadio’s mother said as she stood over the spot in the living room where her son died after being hit by four bullets. She said the family “feels betrayed because a person who is supposed to serve and protect us in a time of crisis took away my child.” Arcadio’s ashes are kept in a teardrop-shaped blue urn on the mantelpiece in the family’s rental house. His mother plans to have some of the remains placed in cremation necklaces for his loved ones.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
‘Tragic outcomes’: Mentally ill face fatal risk with policeOne summer night, Misty Castillo stepped out of her house in Salem, Oregon, called 911 and asked for the police, saying her son was mentally ill, was assaulting her and her husband and had a knife. “He’s drunk and he’s high and he’s mentally ill,” Castillo told the emergency dispatcher, emphasizing again her son’s mental condition. Less than five minutes later, a police officer burst into the house and shot Arcadio Castillo III dead as he stood, his mother said later, “frozen like a deer in headlights.”
Read more »
Global Miners Are Confident China's Stimulus Will Help Prop Up Steel and Iron Ore DemandWhile there are uncertainties surrounding the strength of the demand and production of steel in China, Fortescue says there are so far no signs demand has crumbled.
Read more »
Iron ore price below $100 on China steel curbsSteel prices also stretched losses after several big Chinese cities, including Shenzhen and Dalian, escalated covid-19 restrictions.
Read more »
‘Tragic outcomes’: Mentally ill face fatal risk with policePeople experiencing mental health crises have been being killed by police in America
Read more »
‘Tragic outcomes’: Mentally ill face fatal risk with policeOne summer night, Misty Castillo stepped out of her house in Salem, Oregon, called 911 and asked for the police, saying her son was mentally ill, was assaulting her and her husband and had a knife. “He’s drunk and he’s high and he’s mentally ill,” Castillo told the emergency dispatcher, emphasizing again her son’s mental condition. Less than five minutes later, a police officer burst into the house and shot Arcadio Castillo III dead as he stood, his mother said later, “frozen like a deer in headlights.”
Read more »
‘Tragic outcomes’: Mentally ill face fatal risk with policeTwo killings by police, in Oregon and West Virginia, point to failures to support people with mental illness. The number of people experiencing mental illness killed by police is unknown, despite a law requiring the data to be kept.
Read more »