By: Shecondria Duncan
Mental health disorders affect 1 in every five people in the United States every year. As of 2019, 51.5 million Americans experienced mental illnesses like PTSD, depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. With these illnesses, people faced challenges like social interaction, lack of ability to identify and manage emotions, extreme mood changes of highs and lows, among other things. Unfortunately, facing the challenges of living with a mental illness is not the only concern for those diagnosed with these disorders; they also often experience negative interactions with law enforcement due to police officers’ lack of understanding of mental illnesses.
A 2009 report from the Council of State Governments Justice Center stated that 16.9% of the adults in a sample of local jails had a mental illness. That number averages out to about three to six times the rate of the general population. Perhaps most interesting about these statistics is that women jailed with mental illnesses represented 31% of jail populations, while men with mental illness represented 14%.
Based on this data, the pertinent question is, why are so many individuals with mental illnesses jailed rather than placed in a mental health facility? The answer is that police often feel that arrest or use of force is “handling” the situation when dispatched to calls about the mentally ill.
How Race Play Out in These Encounters
A 2008 study involving the Chicago police department revealed that police officers encountered an individual with a mental illness an average of 4 times per month. Of these individuals, 77.57% were African American males. Non-Hispanic Caucasians and Hispanic Caucasians accounted for 17.11%.
Are There Any Solutions to this Crisis in the Mental Health Community?
Crisis Interventions Teams, also known as CIT, have become the most effective strategy for tackling this crisis. They are diversion programs that consist of a partnership with law enforcement and mental health providers. These teams aim to reduce the arrests of people with mental illness while increasing the likelihood of mental health services instead.
To sum it up, while CITs have been beneficial since their emergence in 1988, the data above indicate that they are only scratching the surface of reducing arrest rates of people with mental illness. There is still work needed to improve interactions between law enforcement and people with mental health disorders.
Food for thought, how can you help address this issue in your community?
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