There are elements are racism in many of these cases, especially the incidents that made headlines nationally.
Normally, when White cops show up on a disorderly person call, patience is rarely evident. The individual causing a problem is likely suffering a mental health crisis and is usually dealt with violently.
One summer night, Misty Castillo stepped out of her house in Salem, Oregon, called 911 and asked for the police, saying her son was mentally ill, was assaulting her and her husband and had a knife.
(From a story on PBS.org and the link is provided.)
“He’s drunk and he’s high and he’s mentally ill,” Castillo told the emergency dispatcher, emphasizing again her son’s mental condition. Less than five minutes later, a police officer burst into the house and shot Arcadio Castillo III dead as he stood, his mother said later, “frozen like a deer in headlights.”
“He didn’t try to calm him down. He just came in and immediately shot my son,” Castillo said.
Police simply have no clue how to deal with a mentally disturbed individual. They normally end up shooting them.
Elijah McCain was an unarmed 23-year old Black man who was killed after cops and paramedics in Aurora, Colo., forcibly restrained him and he was injected with ketamine.
"I believe this tragic fatality is most likely the result of ketamine toxicity," an amended coroner’s report said, adding McClain received a higher dosage of the sedative than he should have. "Simply put, this dosage of ketamine was too much for this individual and it resulted in an overdose."
This happens all across the U.S. and it’s tragic, vile and often unnecessary. The exact figures of these violent police encounters are not known because they are not compiled.
But that was not the case with the daughter of a Tulsa, Okla., district attorney. Despite allegedly stabbing her father and forcing responding cops to wrestle with her, she survived the encounter and was merely handcuffed.
Jennifer Kunzweiler, 30, remained in the hospital under police guard on Sept. 28, 2022, a day after she was arrested for stabbing her father, Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler, Tulsa Police Capt. Richard Meulenberg said
In interviews, her dad, quickly admitted police were dealing with a mentally ill person. When his daughter is released, she will be booked on a single count of domestic violence with use of a dangerous weapon, according to Tulsa Police Capt. Richard Meulenberg said.
But she’s alive because cops knew better than to shoot this woman. Hope she gets the help she needs. Because so many others never do.
“Unfortunately today, I found myself in a situation that I hoped would never happen," Steve Kunzweiler said. "Fortunately, my injuries are such that I am able to go home."
www.nbcnews.com
People experiencing mental health crises have been being killed by police in America. But how many is unknown.
www.pbs.org
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