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STORYLINE Mental Health

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The chance of a person being killed by a police officer because he or she has a mental illness may rise due to budget cuts, lack of proper treatment and the police being unaware that the person suffers from a mental illness. If you need to call the police on a loved one or someone you know who has a mental illness because of erratic or psychotic behavior, let the police know that he or she suffers from a mental illness.

According to the Sacramento Bee, Giat Van Truong, a 35-year-old man who suffers from schizophrenia was shot to death while becoming violent with the arresting police officer. According to Sheriff Sgt. Tim Curran, the arresting officer was unaware that Giat was mentally ill, although Giat had been arrested on mental health holds (5150) several times throughout his life. It is also important to note, however, that Giat had a history of violent crimes as well. This was the third high-profile case in Sacramento County in the past two years regarding killing someone who exhibited signs of a mental illness.

In 2008 the Sheriff’s department came into contact with over 1,700 people known to have a mental illness or behaving in such a manner that it was assumed they could have a mental illness. With the lack of funding for specialized training in this area many police officers are not able to accurately determine if someone is violently resisting arrest or is scared, confused and may be psychotic due to a mental illness.

As noted by the National Institute of Mental Health:

Mental disorders are common in the United States and internationally. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. When applied to the 2004 U.S. Census residential population estimate for ages 18 and older, this figure translates to 57.7 million people. Even though mental disorders are widespread in the population, the main burden of illness is concentrated in a much smaller proportion — about 6 percent, or 1 in 17 — who suffer from a serious mental illness. In addition, mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in the U.S. and Canada for ages 15-44. Many people suffer from more than one mental disorder at a given time. Nearly half (45 percent) of those with any mental disorder meet criteria for 2 or more disorders, with severity strongly related to comorbidity.

I understand that the Police Department has many duties and there is not much money for training in the mental health field. However, it is important to consider that someone who is not acting rationally may be mentally ill and needs compassion and understanding rather than a bullet and death.

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Conversation Express your views, debate, and be heard with those in your area closest to the issue.

BSmeter

December 14, 2009 | 5:15 PM

The shooting officer is from Sac County Sheriff's Department, not Sac Police Department. Two different cultures.

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Sherrie Tyler

December 14, 2009 | 5:28 PM

When I wrote police officer I mean law enforcement in general...I also want to say that the Police/Sheriff departments work very hard and are unfortunately overworked and underpaid. I have a mental illness myself and have encountered the police many times through out my life... and from what I can remember they are usually very nice to me. But that is because they were informed in advance that I have a mental illness. It is a scary thought for me that if I did get out of control or become violent (which I am not usually) that I may be hurt or even killed.

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HonestAbe

edited on December 14, 2009 | 6:20 PM

An officer, in the defense of the weal of the community, must be held to and congratulated for, both the vicissitudes and delights of his successes and failures.

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Rhonda Erwin

December 14, 2009 | 6:44 PM

I remember attending the county forum held in December 2005 after reading on the SPD website Police Chief Najera's plea for community members to stand behind PERT (Police Emergency Reponse Team) once a proposition granted funding for the mentally ill. At the forum many agencies who work with the mentally ill were present as well as many within law enforcment. It was really sad to see so many stand before the panel requesting funding within law enforcement and so many community members with severe mental illness being overlooked by some because they wanted the funding to enhance LE departments. Money was available and again so many looked at money and how it could enhance their departments and not at the people..... Anyway thank you Sherrie Tyler for sharing your information. I wonder whatever happened to the PERT program? Whatever happened to the funding for the proposition which was to go to and for programs for emergency response to and for the mentally ill? I was one of the community members who spoke at the forum and while youth violence was embraced by many in the room none of the funding went towards families mentally, emotionally, psychologically affected by violence and I was okay with that having heard many dreadful stories by many who appeared more in need. I recall hearing so many with severe disabilities such as schizophrenia speak of feelings of separation of thought and emotion of delusion and bizarre behavior and their fear of Law enforcement being the first response..... It would be interesting to learn if the funding had an impact or if once again people were lost in the shuffle and dollars trickled down everywhere but to the people in need?

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Sherrie Tyler

December 14, 2009 | 7:42 PM

Rhonda Erwin, thanks for your comment. I am wondering what happened to the funding for the PERT program as well.

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Andrew Pettit

December 15, 2009 | 9:42 AM

The title of your article is very misleading and not fair to all the men and women of the Sacramento Police Department. Your whole article refers to an incident in Sacramento County not in the City of Sacramento. Your article has some valid points of notifying law enforcement that someone may have a mental issue however, if someone is violent regardless of mental issues, alcohol, drugs, or other issues then the Officer must protect any victims and themselves. Officers always try to resolve conflicts non-violently but the unfortunate part of the job is that sometimes through the best of efforts it is not possible. Even the best of trained mental health professionals will at times call the police on a mental ill patient who is acting out violently.

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Adamtwlv

December 15, 2009 | 10:22 AM

When a mentally ill person has a break down to the point of being violent they can be the most dangerous person for law enforcement to deal with. They do not have the ability to reason and have internal forces that are propelling them down a path that is very difficult to change during that episode. If their actions turn to a nature that the officer must defend themselves, then that is the path that must be taken. Please do not condemn any officer that goes home at night. Their duties require them to be placed in situations that may not be able to be resolved in any manner other than death. If a family knows their loved one has the potential and probable likely hood of becoming violent, then I believe it is their responsibility to place them in a facility or get treatment that can manage their issues. I have seen this in many communities with different results. Rohnert Park officer having to defend themselves by killing a "deranged man" . On the other hand, Deputy Lee from the Riverside S.O. was killed after he was beaten to death by his own baton by a mentally ill man. No family will be happy with any outcome of death, be it the officer or the family of the mentally ill. So, Families with psychotic members take care to not let your loved ones get into or put an officer in the position to make that decision.

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cogmeyer

December 15, 2009 | 3:20 PM

A person attacks and grabs the nightstick of a police officer for many reasons. It may be drugs, mental illness, suicidal tendencies (death by cop), an attempt to flee, or any attempt from a lucid criminal to harm an officer.

In a perfect world nobody would hurt anybody. In the real world I prefer that officers rely on their trained response for when they are attacked so that he/she is the one to return home to his/her family that night.

Do you really believe the officer or anybody in the sheriff's department wanted to see the death of a mentally ill person? Or that somehow that shooting the guy was the "easy option" for the officer?

The title of the article should highlight that an officer was punched in the face and beaten with his own nightstick but luckily was able to survive, but unfortunately had to shoot the assailant. Have some respect!

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Dale Kooyman

December 15, 2009 | 7:44 PM

Sherrie, I was on the Homeless Board when PERT was implemented here. It was based on a very successful San Diego program that created a team of mental health workers and police to help mentally ill there.

Here mental health and social service providers objected strongly to law enforcement getting any of the funds. They contended that only the providers should get the money because dealing with the mentally ill was just part of PD's job.

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Sherrie Tyler

December 15, 2009 | 8:02 PM

Dale, thanks for your input!

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katcamp

December 16, 2009 | 9:41 PM

There are two completely different ways to view what happened and two different views to prevent it from happening again. Both views are respectively understood. We must remember that the mentally challenged far too often are left behind to fend for themselves with no place to turn. I see the only answer for a solution is more funding to create additional programs. Controversy is necessary to bring awareness. Awareness is necessary to bring changes. Hats off to you Ms. Tyler for confronting difficult issues.

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morganforms

edited on December 21, 2009 | 5:56 PM

Some police officers are more easily willing to shoot a person with a severe mental illness. Some officers are corrupt and hypervigilant, and as a result think severely mentally ill people are worthless and better off dead. I don't believe these shootings of some of the mentally ill are just from police ignorance or accident. I'm mentally ill and 5150 and the officer I thought wanted to kill, like he thought I was some worthless, stupid fool. But, I was better after my hospital, completely normal and functioning again. I wasn't really mentally ill, but had just high blood pressure and anxiety. The officer thought I was severly mentally ill, and I believe all this officer could see was some severe mental illness going on with me, as if I was nothing but a nutcase. I was treated disrespectfully, lost my job, almost beat up by another patient in the nutward, and never felt quite myself again. I could have recovered in a regular hospital for two days, but since this officer had to insist I was a '5150', I almost lost my life from the brutal treatment. I"ve never been so close to my casket before in my life. I did contemplate suicide after the long psychiatric hospital. After getting out was when I was closest to a suicide because of being treated meanly and being shamed for my state of mind and treated like a wasted human in a nutward.

I have two college degrees, a 3 page resume, 4 years of martial arts, been in ballet, dance, and have been an outstanding person, only to be treated like garbage. It's was obvious my problem was medical when the doctor found I was having PMS with high blood pressure, not a mental illness.

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