Police Misconduct towards Mentally Ill
By Maggie Patch
Police are the good guys…at least that is what we have all been
told; however, this is not always the case. Many police have been reported to
have performed some sort of misconduct. In fact, statistics show that “ 1 out
of every 116.4 officers allegedly engaged in misconduct” and the most
common type of misconduct reported is brutality, or excessive use of
force.
However, more concerning than this is how they handle situations
with the mentally ill. There have been many cases where police officers kill or
beat up the mentally ill. One such case is the death of Robert Ethan Saylor, a
26 year old down syndrome man. On January 12 of 2013, Saylor was watching ‘Zero
Dark Thirty’ at a Fredrick movie theater with an aide. When the movie ended
Saylor wished to view it again so he remained in the theater. An employee
attempted to get Saylor to either leave or buy another ticket. Unable to do so
the employee called three “off-duty Frederick County sheriff’s deputies who
were working a security job at the Westview Promenade shopping center”. The
employee told them that Saylor either “needed to buy another ticket or be
removed.”
Saylor was known
for his love of the police and his interest in the work they did. He often
called them to ask questions or just talk to the officers. The people who came
to the theater, however, did not look like police officers because they were
out of uniform. When they tried to get him to leave he resisted, but was
finally restrained with “three sets of handcuffs linked together” and was
escorted out. Somehow, along the way, Saylor ended up of the ground and “began
showing signs of medical distress”. Shortly after that he was pronounced dead
of asphyxia. He died while in the care of these three officers, yet the only
punishment so far was their suspension, a whole month later.
Another incident where the police handled a situation with a
mentally ill person occurred on July 1 of 2012. Milton Hall, a 49 year old with
mental disabilities “called the police following an argument with a convenience
store clerk.” Milton moved out to the parking lot which is where he was when
the police arrived. He had a knife on him when the six officers appeared. They
repeatedly asked him to put the knife down.
According to his
mother, Milton was a “homeless…civil rights activist, [who] received Social
Security disability payments for mental illness and had lived in the area for
35 years” and all the police knew Milton. If they all knew Milton, then they
must have known that he had a mental illness that impeded him from thinking
clearly and processing information the way most people do. Yet, when Milton did
not drop the knife that he was holding and took a step back the six officers
opened fire, shooting Milton 46 times. A witness described it as a “firing
squad dressed in police uniforms.” “''All of a sudden, pow, pow, pow, pow,
pow...and he drops,' said Anthony Baber”.
Video and information
In both cases the
victims obviously have mental disabilities. In Saylor’s case, even if the
police had not known him, it is plain to see that he had some sort of
disability. Milton Hall was well known by the police, and even if they had not
known him, it was clear that something was not from the way he was talking in
the video. Yet, in both cases the two were treated without care considering
their disabilities and both paid the price for the officers misconduct and
brutality with their lives. Every police officer should be trained how to deal
with those with mental disabilities and how to handle them when they are
agitated.
The abuse of
power that these police officers show as well as their rash, uncaring judgment
hits close to home for me. I have a down syndrome brother who loves to go to
the theater and occasionally goes with his friend. My brother, like Saylor,
likes to watch movies several times because he enjoys them so much. It would not
be a surprise if he would want to stay to watch a movie again and he has a
stubborn streak when there is something that he wants. If he could not be
swayed would the employee call the police? Would the Saylor incident repeat
itself with my brother the victim? I am not the only one with these concerns
and the belief that the police should have a training course in order to
prepare themselves for any incidents like the Saylor and Milton
incidents.
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-02-19/local/37180924_1_deputies-law-enforcement-theater-employee Saylor info
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/289686.html more Saylor info
