On Oct. 28, Gretna, Florida, resident Juanita Donald called 911. She was requesting help in transferring her mentally ill son, Kadrick Donald, to the Apalchee Center after Kadrick refused to take his medication.
Just a short time later, Kadrick was fatally shot by a police officer in the Donald family’s home.
According to a report from WCTV, Juanita said Kadrick walked away from the officer who arrived at the home, acting like he “didn’t want to be bothered.”
Juanita said the officer then “just grabbed him, and he tased him. Then when he grabbed him and tased him, he rushed my son off in the bathroom, and I heard three shots. I was like, ‘You shot my son’ and he was like, ‘I had to.’ I said, ‘No, you didn’t have to.’”
Reports indicate up to 50 percent of Americans killed in confrontations with police have some type of mental illness. This tragically high figure is largely a result of a broken American mental health care system and a police force that is inadequately trained to deal with those suffering from a mental illness.
Massive cutbacks to public spending on mental health care that began during the Reagan administration have led to severe shortcomings in access to badly needed care for the mentally ill.
Even for those who can afford private health insurance, coverage of mental health care is devastatingly sparse. In many cases, insurance plans cover up to only 50 percent of the costs of treatment for mental illness, much less than the coverage for physical health issues. Without the proper health care infrastructure, the responsibility of dealing with the mentally ill often falls to America’s law enforcement agencies, which are often completely incapable of effectively handling such cases.
Police should obviously be allowed to protect themselves in confrontations with violent, mentally ill people in which officers’ lives are threatened. However, in many cases like the Donald incident, officers resort to deadly force because they are simply not trained to properly handle the mentally ill.
There are some bright spots in this dark situation: The Affordable Care Act provides increased funding for mental health services. The law’s expansion of Medicaid will also reduce the number of Americans who are unable to receive mental health care because of the exorbitant financial costs. In addition, many police departments are instituting training programs to teach their officers about interacting with the mentally ill, with a focus on understanding and treatment rather than violence.
Regardless of any improvements or changes that are made to public health services or insurance coverage, Americans suffering from mental illness will continue to be victims of unnecessary police violence unless the police themselves change.
Law enforcement officers must view the instigation of violence against the mentally ill as an absolute last resort, especially if the individual in question is unarmed and nonthreatening, as Kadrick was. Americans suffering from mental illness deserve proper care and treatment, not excessive and needless violence.
[A version of this story ran on page 6 on 11/13/2014]
