Across the U.S., people experiencing mental health crises are being killed by police, but the exact number remains unknown because of a yawning governmental information gap.
Misty Castillo, left, and her husband Arcadio stand in front of their home, holding the urn containing the ashes of their son Arcadio Castillo III, who was shot in 2021 by Salem police, as their granddaughter Nala, age 2, looks out the window in Salem, Ore., Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022. Misty called 911 and asked for the police, saying her son was mentally ill, was assaulting her and her husband and had a knife. Less than five minutes later, a police officer burst into the house and shot him.
Arcadio’s parents had sought mental health treatment for their 23-year-old son and even tried to have him committed. But the system, such as it is, failed them.Matt Jones was apparently suffering from a severe manic episode while standing on a highway with a handgun. Police were everywhere, sirens wailing. The scene on July 6 in the community of Bradley was captured by a bystander on video. One officer took a shot and then others opened fire, killing Jones in a hail of bullets.
Hannah Wesolowski, chief advocacy officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said the deaths of Castillo and Jones “highlight a larger systemic problem that we have in helping people who are struggling with their mental health or are in a mental health crisis.” In Portland, Oregon, 72% of the 85 people who were shot to death by police from 1975 to 2020 were affected by mental illness, drugs or alcohol, or some combination thereof, according to Jason Renaud of the Mental Health Association of Portland. The group does not have the numbers for those affected by mental illness alone, but sometimes they’re intertwined. Long-term methamphetamine use, for instance, can cause psychosis.
A case worker at a psychiatric crisis center couldn’t diagnose Arcadio because of his drug and alcohol use, Castillo said. Arcadio’s parents tried to have him committed to a psychiatric institution, “but everywhere we turned we were told he wasn’t sick enough to be committed,” Castillo said. “And one week later he was killed.”
Jones’ heart dropped as she recognized the man’s walk and the way he flipped his hair over his shoulder— and realized it was her husband Mark's brother.
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