(Mar. 2, 2015) A homeless man recently released from a psychiatric facility was shot and killed by police on Skid Row in Los Angeles late Sunday night. The man, whose name was Africa, had been homeless for several months prior to the shooting. The tragedy was captured on a cellphone video.
“The devastating consequences of failing to provide treatment for people with severe mental illness were felt once again this weekend,” said Doris A. Fuller, executive director of the Treatment Advocacy Center. “Failure to provide and maintain treatment for our most vulnerable citizens results in tragedies.”
Untreated severe mental illness is an increasing factor in officer-involved homicides, according to a joint report by the Treatment Advocacy Center and the National Sheriffs’ Association. “The responsibility of law enforcement officers for seriously mentally ill persons has increased sharply in recent years and is continuing to increase,” the authors wrote. “Inevitably, the increasing number of confrontations between law enforcement officers and persons with serious mental illness leads to some unfortunate outcomes.
The Treatment Advocacy Center makes three recommendations for decreasing the number of justifiable homicides associated with severe mental illness.
- Return responsibility for mental health from law enforcement and the criminal justice system to the mental illness treatment system.
- Use assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) to reduce officer-involved tragedies and enact AOT laws in the five states where the treatment option remains unavailable (Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Tennessee).
- Restore psychiatric bed facilities to meet the needs of people with untreated severe mental illness
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