Police Response to Mentally Ill Waiting to Improve
By Diane Rusignola Advocates and government officials have been trying for months to work with the Metropolitan Police Department to establish a Crisis Intervention Team in D.C. in order to improve police responses to mentally ill people. But since listening to the initial recommendation in September 2006, the District government has taken no action on the proposal. "Being the nation's capital, Washington, D.C. should be a leader in protecting our most vulnerable citizens those living with mental illness," said Michael Fitzpatrick, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. "Until we have adequate mental health care in this country, people living with severe mental illness will continue to populate our nation's jails unless we train police officers to recognize the signs of mental illness." The National Alliance on Mental Illness, located in Arlington, endorses the creation of the Crisis Intervention Team, especially as it is already in place and working in Baltimore and Montgomery County. The Crisis Intervention Team program in D.C. would not involve hiring new officers, but rather training current police throughout the city. According to the Police Complaints Board, an independent police oversight committee appointed by the District government, trained officers would have the "expertise to deescalate a mental health crisis and quickly connect individuals in crisis to appropriate treatment." The idea for such training came in response to citizen complaints about interactions between people living with mental illness and D.C. police. The Police Complaints Board estimates that 7% of calls responded to by the Metropolitan Police Department on an annual basis involve a person with mental illness. In certain cases, people demonstrating behavior stemming from or symptomatic of mental illness have been arrested or subjected to use of force by police. Sometimes, although far less common, police force with mentally ill people has even resulted in death, as in two recent incidents: the fatal shootings of Terrance Andre Nowlin in April 2005 and Justin Fisher in nearby Anne Arundel County in May 2006. The Office of Police Complaints first proposed the Crisis Intervention Team after its executive director Philip Eure learned about the Memphis Police Department implementing the program in 2005. He then sent two staffers to Memphis to investigate the program, and the policy recommendation followed in September 2006. "Considering the length of the proposal, the process flowed pretty quickly," Eure said. "The program should have been instituted a long time ago, actually." The September recommendation lists 14 steps that need to be followed in order to implement the program, including designating a Crisis Intervention Team task force and a liaison within the Metropolitan Police Department and applying for grants to help fund officer training. "The program will require training for officers but no increase in hiring," Eure said. "And in other cities and counties, it has really resulted in an elite core of officers. They are very proud of it, they are recognized for it, they apply specifically to be part of it. The idea really generates the best possible officers." Besides participation from officers, the D.C. Department of Mental Health, mental health service providers and mental illness advocates will also need to collaborate and embrace the program, Eure said. With the recent mayoral change in the city, the institution of the program has not been immediate. Rumors of potential appointees within Police Chief Cathy Lanier's camp who would be very empathetic to the mental illness plight are circulating nonetheless, so there may be hope for the policy initiative yet. "Good discussions went on last fall, but it's too early to tell what will happen to the proposal," Eure said. "I have respect for the new police chief [Cathy Lanier]. She can't put people into positions until she's confirmed, so it's a waiting game right now." More information on the Office of Police Complaints, including the full report on Crisis Intervention Team proposal is available at www.policecomplaints.dc.gov. | 
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