Intersection of mental health, police and race takes the life of another young Black man – USA TODAY

opinion

Thaddeus Johnson and Natasha Johnson | Opinion contributors

Of the more than 200 people killed by police gunfire since the landmark conviction of Derek Chauvin for George Floyds murder in Minneapolis, about 15% exhibited signs of mental illness, according to data collected by The Washington Post. They include Ryan LeRoux, a 21-year-old Black man fatally shot last month while parked in a McDonalds drive-thrulane in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Responding to a call indicating that LeRoux had refused to pay for his meal or movehis vehicle, officers suspected that he was experiencing a mental health emergency, a fact later confirmed by his parents. Police called for a crisis specialist, but after noticing a handgun on the front passenger seat and what they described as uncooperative behavior on LeRouxs part, officers opened fire before help arrived. Policefootage includes audio of LeRoux talking to thecounty police Emergency Communications Center, statingthat he was cooperating with officers on the scene.The video also shows that LeRoux had been reclined in the driver's seat, and that he sat up before officers fired.

Despite uncertainties surrounding his death, LeRouxs all-too-familiar demise in a hailstorm ofbullets illustrates yet again how race and the need for mental health support often intersect at deadly police encounters. Since the pandemics onset, Black people have accounted for a disproportionate 20%of the nearly 300 Americans with known mental illness who were fatally wounded during police shootings.

Given our nations woefully underfunded web of behavioral health care, police invariably are required to step in as first responders for calls involving mental health and substance use issues. Unfortunately for both police and those in distress, officers are generally unqualified or ill-prepared to handle these complicated and sometimes volatile situations, which account for about 1 in 5 calls.

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Acknowledging this deficit, a growing number of law enforcement agencies are forging collaborations with nonpolice organizations prioritizing less punitive approaches in responding to mental health emergencies. Loosely defined as crisis intervention team (CIT) programs, these initiatives take many forms. Some involve intensive training that prepares officers to verbally de-escalate conflict, recognize symptoms of mental illness and engage people in crisis, while others pair such officers with crisis experts for behavioral health-related calls.

Sadly, LeRouxs death makes clear that the availability of certified crisis professionals does not guarantee that these rapidly unfolding, high-stakes encounters will abide by theschedule of the interventionist. And just as important, would it have made a differencein this case if the crisis specialist had made it to the scene in time?

While more rigorous evaluation is needed, CIT programs have proved largely ineffective against, among other things, use of force.Experts blame this on agencies not fully committing to CIT principles andnot integrating crisis interventioninto the given area's overall mental health system. Ultimately, however, the bigger issue is that officers simply lack clinical expertise.

Mirroring racial disparities in other aspects of policing, the evidence suggests that Black people exhibiting signs of mental distress are likely at greater risk of dying during encounters with law enforcement. As is often heard after police shootings involving Black citizens, some will ask why LeRoux didnt just comply. The question is fair, but its not that simple.

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This countrys legacy of racial violence and discriminatory policing has instilled generational mistrust and fear of the police that powerfully informs how Black people respond to those in uniform with guns and badges.

In LeRoux's case, he insisted that his hands were in the air, as police had instructed. The audio from the police footage also revealsLeRoux's hesitancy to open hiswindows, another instruction from police. His explanation to policeon the phone: He doesn't want to put his hands down. Who can blame him? Black men putting their hands out of police line of sight has resulted in death during traffic stopseven when the man is moving his hands to follow police instructions, as was the case with Philando Castile, who was killed duringa traffic stop in 2017 nearSt. Paul, Minnesota.LeRoux's possible fear of that is understandable.

We can personally attest to this kind of fear, which is continually stoked in many Black households by the recurring refrain that policing is a dangerous institution for Black America. Theexperiences that one of us encounteredas a Black male police officer in Memphis, Tennessee, validatesthis story line. While serving on the force, Iwas pulled over several times by mycolleagues, and although Iknew most officers were consummate professionals, Istill experienced feelings of anxiety a harsh reality far too familiar to many people of color.

This fear can be debilitating. Skeptics suggest arguments about fear areexcuses for noncompliance, but terroris real and often triggers a physiological response. Studies show that humans unconsciously react to perceived danger in three ways: fight, flight or freeze. The fear response can be compounded by co-occurring mental health issues and substance use, and it may intensify when power imbalances exist and escape seems impossible much like the conditions that exist during custodial police encounters.

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The fatal shooting ofMiles Hall in 2019 provides another example. The 23-year-oldBlack manin California was holding a gardening tool and having a meltdownwhen police shot and killed him. Hall's mother had called the police hoping for help with her son. But combustible dynamics often underpin what some might consider defiant responses that police are ill-equipped to deal with.

Such tragedies, coupled with the limitations of crisis interventionprograms, have sparked calls to revisit police responsibilities and sharecertain duties withsocial service providers and other organizations.

One longstanding example of this is the Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets, or theCAHOOTS initiative. It's a 24/7 service staffed by crisis workers and medics trained in intervention and de-escalation who are sent to substance abuse and behavioral health calls mostlywithout the police by dispatchers trained to ask the right questions. That means moments like the one experienced between LeRoux and officers waiting for a crisis intervention specialistto show up would occurless frequently.

While the research supporting the impact of CAHOOTS is thin, the principles underlying the approach hold promise for reducing violent altercations between police and the public and a more culturally responsive CAHOOTS-like model could reduce the racial disparity in fatal police outcomes.

Given the uneven police contact that puts Black people at greater risk of coming face-to-face with officers amid conditions ripe for physical altercation, such a model, if done correctly, would likely enable Black Americans to reap the greatest benefits.

In the end, the responsibility falls on civic governments to protect and meet the needs of those most vulnerable to unnecessary arrest and coercive police force. Abroader community-centered approach must ensure that culturally responsive crisis interventions are especially sensitive to the unique stresses andfears plaguing Black communities.

Such steps would represent a profound investment in improving police-citizen relations.

More important, they would save lives.

Thaddeus Johnson, a former police officer, is a senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice and teaches criminology at Georgia State University. His wife Natasha Johnson is a faculty member at Georgia State and director of the universitys master'sprogram in criminal justice administration.

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Intersection of mental health, police and race takes the life of another young Black man - USA TODAY