Law enforcement is coming in contact with more mentally ill people, and more often, the
New York Times found. With the lack of sufficient mental health services, many mentally ill people bounce from homelessness to jail to halfway houses, increasing their interaction with police officers who are now finding their job something between an enforcer of the law and mental health specialists--a job that many officers are not equipped or trained for. Though there are no national statistics, departments in Oregon and San Diego had reported a spike in the number of interactions had with mentally ill homeless people, and the Treatment Advocacy Center and National Sheriff's Association estimate that half of people who are shot and fatally killed by police officers are mentally ill. And for those that do not meet their end by an officers bullet, prisons become the poorly suited mental institution substitute. Rikers Island prison reported a spike in stabbings and beatings alongside their surge in mentally ill inmates (who are often subjected to abuse by other inmates and more likely to act violently out when not properly treated). While crisis intervention, training and enforcement of procedures may help curb these numbers, the larger issue--a system that does not help or treat the mentally ill as much as cycles them from homeless to prison and back--puts a significant stress on police departments, and a substantial risk to the 6% of the population that need medical help.
NY Times, April 2014
