Short summary of the below article from The Marshall Project website: +What Irvo Otieno’s Killing Tells Us about Mental Healthcare in the U.S. +The system can end up prosecuting patients and relying on police — with sometimes fatal results.
The article discusses the death of Irvo Otieno, a 28-year-old man with a history of mental illness who was killed by seven sheriff's deputies after being transferred from a medical hospital to a state mental hospital. The article argues that Otieno's death is a symptom of a larger problem with the way the United States treats people with mental illness.
The article points out that the isolation, lack of treatment, and potential violence in jail make it one of the worst places for someone in a psychiatric crisis. However, it is the frequent landing spot for people with serious mental illness, because police remain the primary responders to mental health crises in most of the country.
The article argues that this reliance on police can lead to tragic results. In Otieno's case, the deputies who responded to the call were not trained in how to deal with people in mental health crises. As a result, they used excessive force, which led to his death.
The article concludes by calling for reforms to the way the United States treats people with mental illness. It argues that we need to invest in mental health care and train police officers in how to deal with people in mental health crises. We also need to create a system that diverts people with mental illness away from the criminal justice system and into treatment.
Here are some additional points from the article:
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- Psychologists say that jail is one of the worst places for someone in a psychiatric crisis. +
- Despite growing efforts to send trained mental health professionals to many 911 calls, police remain the primary responders in most of the country. +
- Otieno's death forces an examination of how our mental health care and criminal justice systems can end up prosecuting patients and over-relying on police, with sometimes fatal consequences. +
- The article calls for reforms to the way the United States treats people with mental illness, including investing in mental health care, training police officers in how to deal with people in mental health crises, and creating a system that diverts people with mental illness away from the criminal justice system and into treatment. +
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