Advocates Urge More Training to Better Prepare Police for Encounters with Mentally Ill

Increased training of law enforcement officers for interactions with the mentally ill was urged by advocates speaking at a California Senate Committee hearing Friday in Exposition Park.

"We as a community are afraid.  We feel we cannot trust police," said Vikki Vickers, who revealed she was diagnosed with schizophrenia and described the challenges she faced while homeless in the Skid Row section of Los Angeles.

The hearing comes in the wake of a number violent encounters between law enforcement and mentally ill individuals.

In the past two months in Los Angeles, there have been two police shooting deaths of homeless men  who were combative, but not armed - Charly Keunang, 43, on Skid Row in March, Brendon Glenn, 29, this past Tuesday in Venice.  Keunang had been diagnosed with mental illness while in prison.  Glenn suffered from alcohol abuse, according to those who knew him.  Both cases remain under investigation.

"He didn't deserve that," said Mario Doty, who said Glenn was well liked by the homeless community in Venice.

Every year, the Los Angeles Police Department responds to some 14-thousand calls for service involving mentally disturbed individuals, said LAPD Lt. Brian Bixler, officer in charge of the Crisis Response Support Section.

Encounters with the mentally ill, or those affected by substance abuse, account for a disproportionate number of the uses of force by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department--on the order of 40 percent, Sheriff Jim McDonnell told the committee.

"Being able to talk to somebody in a way that diffuses the situation is the... goal," said Sheriff McDonnell.

Of the 664 hours of training required to become a peace officer in California, only six involve training for encounters with disabled individuals, including those with physical and mental health issues.

A bill already introduced, SB 11, would require an additional 20 hours of academy training "so that all officers can recognize, de-escalate and refer people with mental illnesses who are in crisis," according to a summary prepared by committee staff.  A companion bill, SB 29, would require 20 hours of follow-up training in the field.

Some agencies, including the LA Sheriff, LAPD, and the California Highway Patrol, have begun providing expanded training programs, but so far only a small percentage of personnel have gone through the full 40 hour crisis intervention training (CIT) based on a program first developed in Memphis, and known as the Memphis model.

Sheriff McDonnell said taking deputies from field for extended training is costly, and urged the committee to support funding.  His appeal got a favorable response--if not a specific commitment--from Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, co-author of the two bills with Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose.

"All of us must recognize these are issues we must deal with and be willing to pay for," said Sen. Mitchell.

Two representatives of the California Highway Patrol testified to the impact of an incident last summer, when a cellphone camera recorded an officer repeatedly striking a homeless woman on the ground at the edge of the Santa Monica freeway.

"It really highlighted the need for more training," said CHP Capt. Rich Desmond. In fact, the CHP had previously expanded its training to eight hours, and all 7-thousand officers had received it at the time of the freeway incident.  Afterwards, the department committed to the 40 hour Memphis model training, and is in the process of putting current officers through it, Desmond said.

"These are not simple, black and white issues," said Sen. Mitchell, pointing to law enforcement's duty to respond and deal with threats to public safety.  In the freeway incident, if the officer had not kept the woman from walking onto the freeway, "it would have been far worse.  So we have to have that balance," Mitchell said. 

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