How Can We Stop Police Brutality?

Police brutality is an ongoing problem in America. Recently, we’ve witnessed more and more tragic examples of this with people such as Nicolas Chavez, Patrick Warren Sr., and here in Philadelphia, Walter Wallace Jr. This is such an important issue because of how much harm it has caused. It feels like almost every day we hear about another person who was killed by police. My focus on the subject is police reacting to mental health crises, and how we can prevent harmful situations.

Writing on a sidewalk in New York City “Stop Murder by Police”

The question is, how can we stop this problem? A shocking demographic shows that “People who have untreated mental illnesses are 16 times more likely to be killed during a police encounter, and those who have an untreated severe mental illness are involved in up to half of all fatal police shootings.” An incredible amount of people are hurt and even killed in police encounters that are meant to save them. A possible way to help fix this problem is through health care workers working with police. Many areas have begun using this method. One example is a program called CAHOOTS in Eugene, Oregon. This program has been around the longest, for 30 years. This program has been the inspiration for many others.

A CAHOOTS bus in Eugene, Oregon

But what do these programs do? These programs implement a very nonviolent approach that has been saving countless lives. For 911 calls about mental health crises, officials will send a trained professional to defuse the situation and get them the help they need. These health care workers will be unarmed, and in cases of possible violence, will be sent with a police officer. They will also respond to calls on smaller things, such as a homeless person in need of help, clothes, etc. In New York City, they will also be implementing this method in the two neighborhoods with the most calls related to mental health crises. “Making healthcare-only teams the default response will reduce the number of times police respond and ensure that people get the physical and mental health care they need quickly.” This can be beneficial for everyone, including police, who can focus on real crime.

A police officer standing in Times Square

Why are police not handling these situations properly? “A 2006 report from the Justice Department found that police officers typically receive about 111 hours on firearms skill and self-defense — but just 11 on cultural diversity and human relations, eight on community policing strategies, and eight on mediation and conflict management.” This is a problem. Police spend their time training for fighting, but not nearly enough in other subjects like racial sensitivity and handling mental health crises. When a police officer is in a potentially dangerous confrontation, their racial biases emerge and this often causes harm to innocent people. “This doesn’t speak just to how little police are trained to handle racial bias, but also all sorts of other situations they take part in — mental health crises, interactions with the LGBTQ community, and domestic and sexual abuse cases, as a few examples. Police just aren’t well-trained to handle a wide variety of sensitive, difficult areas.” In addition to this, why should police be the only resort for any problem? Police should be meant for real crime and violent situations. “We should be asking ourselves why it is that law enforcement has become the default system to handle situations related to mental health, addiction, poverty and homelessness, and what public safety should really mean for our most vulnerable neighbors.”

Researching this topic has taught me how much of a problem police brutality is in America, and how much mental health crisis situations are mishandled. The reality is that police aren’t trained for defusing situations that are non-violent or have to do with a psychological episode. Nor is this the intended function of the police. This is why we need programs such as CAHOOTS, to handle these situations so that they can stay peaceful, successful, and beneficial for everyone.