Tag Archive for Sheehan

Police and Mental Illness

The Supreme Court should not have to deal with the Frances Sheehan case.  Recall that she’s the woman with schizophrenia shot by police in her room at her group home because she was threatening her social worker with a knife.   The suit before the court is based on the Americans with Disabilities act, saying that police must give “special accommodations” to people with disabilities.

I wasn’t there, so I won’t pass judgment on how the police handled the situation, or on the merits of the case.

What I will pass judgment on, though, is police training.  Apart from the medical profession, what group of people is most likely to have to deal with people with mental disabilities?  Obviously, the police.  In most police departments, officers are instructed to call in for a specially trained officer to diffuse such situations, which, of course, adds time to, therefore, potential escalation of, a dangerous situation.

My question is, if a small number of officers can be trained to work with the mentally ill, why isn’t such training required of all officers?  Wouldn’t that be safer for all concerned, decrease the number of deaths and injuries on both sides, and lessen the need for court cases?

Or am I being too logical?