There's a diary out today. Yet another instance where the police come to the home of someone in a mental health crisis and the crisis ends in death. I wish this was a rare occurrence, but today's diary is one in a long string of police shootings. This 3 year old Salon article claims about half of police shootings are of mentally ill people. The anecdotal data alone suggests that the police are ill trained to deal with calls for help with mentally ill people.
I was leading a work related discussion group last week with some mental health professionals and the Miami case of Lavall Hall's shooting came up. Every Licensed Social Worker in the room wondered why the family called 911 instead of (in no particular order):
1. Following the crisis plan that Lavall Hall should have had
2. Why they didn't call Hall's mental health counselor/provider for direction
3. Why the family thought calling 9-1-1 could/would help
I do paperwork. I can code, bill, train, do compliance, HIM security, risk management, write IEPs and write grants, but I don't do clinical stuff other than first aid and CPR. I agreed with these mental health professionals, but not because of mental health protocol. I was looking at it from my family background that includes British/Irish/white/Puritan ancestor/Evangelical/Catholic/Rail Road history that combines into what's best described as a Country Western LP for a family background. Calling the police would be unthinkable to me. It would be the sure path to disaster.
Let me explain.