“To some degree, the failure to track the role of mental illness in fatal police encounters is symptomatic of the failure to systematically track fatal police encounters, period,” the report reads.
The Guardian, the Washington Post and a former FBI investigator’s “True Crime”blog have all independently found that about 25% of fatal police incidents involve a mentally ill victim, the report notes. Currently there is no comprehensive government source for this information. The new DoJ program is expected to track mental health information.
The startling statistic noting 16 times greater risk of a fatal encounter with law enforcement for people with mental illness was calculated using the 25% number reported by the Guardian and other publications, which Snook said made the estimate “very conservative”.
The startling statistic noting 16 times greater risk of a fatal encounter with law enforcement for people with mental illness was calculated using the 25% number reported by the Guardian and other publications, which Snook said made the estimate “very conservative”. The Guardian’s Counted investigation monitors whether mental health issues are identified by family members, friends or police.