The Tribune

By MALCOLM STRACHAN

LAST week’s shooting of a mentally ill man by Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) officers has added another name to the list of individuals who have died in police involved shootings in recent years. However, this was not the typical situation where the police have met deadly force with the same.

Reports indicated the young man who was killed, Ernsteev Charles, was armed with a cutlass when he was shot multiple times by police officers. However, reports also indicate that Mr Charles suffered from mental illness – and the lingering question in such situations is whether there might be another way that could preserve someone’s life.

Likewise, has police training not evolved enough beyond simply, cut and dry, meeting deadly force with deadly force?

Sending police officers on calls that require crisis intervention of another kind - added to our cultural lack of sensitivity towards mental illness - is a deadly cocktail.

Studies have long pointed out the intersection between socio-economic status and mental health. Such research has shown a clear correlation between low-income status and mental illness.

A 2012 research paper published in the Journal of Public Mental Health by scientists from the London School of Economics explored some of the nuances of mental health, poverty and development. Their findings were jarring. Among some of the discoveries dating back decades was that people with mental health disorders were four times more likely to have been unemployed or partially employed. Additionally, people suffering from mental illnesses were one-third more likely not to have graduated from high school and three times more likely to be divorced, leaving a significant strain on their families.

There aren’t many choices left for family members who shoulder the responsibility of providing for and protecting loved ones stricken with mental health disorders. Such protection, as it turns out, is warranted as they may be a hazard to themselves as well as others. But what is further endangering everyone involved is our continued mishandling of this epidemic.

As this latest incident shows, family members of the mentally unstable must think twice before seeking police intervention.

The pain and regret heard in Mr Charles’ mother’s voice was heartbreaking. Hearing the helplessness she must feel mourning the loss of her son who she simply wanted to help ought to have struck a nerve in every Bahamian.

None of us are immune to the challenges of maintaining our mental health, particularly with a misery index as high as it has ever been in a pandemic. Yet, our government leaders in the health, law enforcement and social development spaces have yet to crack this code.

For starters, in the area of producing our own research on this societal issue, we have failed.

Just north of our border, state governments have funnelled resources to decrease fatal shootings that have resulted in more than 1,200 killings since 2015.

US data suggests people with mental illnesses are 16 times more susceptible of being killed in an encounter with police than civilians with properly functioning faculties. And as issues of police reform have cascaded over the US since the murder of George Floyd, the fact individuals suffering from an untreated mental illness account for 25-50 percent of all fatal police shootings has shown the urgency for alternative interventions.

The Memphis Model, a crisis intervention training system developed to decrease the proliferation of the fatal shootings of people suffering from mental health illnesses in the US, was developed after the killing of a black Memphis man in 1987.

While adoption was slow initially, recent demands for police reform are forcing legislators to take notice.

Coined as a community engagement concept, this form of crisis intervention training, focuses on developing police officers equipped to navigate situations where mental health issues play a role. This is done through working more closely with community stakeholders in the mental health field.

Others trying to develop solutions make note of how scary an interaction with police officers can be for people who do not have mental health issues in comparison to those that do. One cannot ignore the nature of a police officer whose training focuses on marksmanship and protecting life at the cost of taking a life.

As such, police officers are placed in a precarious position when better solutions remain out of reach.

Mr Charles’ mother’s palpable regret that she called the police is the last thing we want anyone to feel.

That said, who is going to suggest the alternative? We need community-organised emergency responders familiar with families, medical practitioners in mental health disorders, as well as police officers and social workers all working together to effect change in how we have approached these situations.

Moreover, we need to remove the negative stigma attached to mental health disorders and practice more empathy as a people. What happens to your neighbour’s family yesterday could happen to you or yours tomorrow.

We must be better than this.