Short Paper on Law Enforcement Responses to Persons with Mental Illnesses in Crises (24 pts.)
I have attached a PDF of a chapter on “The Law Enforcement Response to Persons with Mental Illnesses in Crises.” See Slate, R.N., K. Frailing, W.W. Johnson, and J.K. Buffington (2021). The Criminalization of Mental Illness. Crisis and Opportunity for the Justice System. 3rd. ed. Durham: Carolina Academic Press. Chapter 5-LEO and mental illness.pdf
Your writing assignment is to read that chapter to learn lessons about policing and mental illness and to extend those lessons using the case of Taylor Ware.
You will find a video regarding the case starting at the 38:37 timestamp and ending at 48:04 in the Documenting Police Use of Force Frontline video assigned in Module 2 (LInk to Documenting Police Use of Force frontline video.docx ).
For further details, see the AP story at: A mom called 911 to get her son mental health help. He died after police responded with force | AP NewsLinks to an external site..
Note that this case was chosen because Ware’s death could have been prevented even if the officers involved were not (and probably could not have been) criminally charged for it. Moreover, the coroner’s report diminishes the likelihood of a civil lawsuit against any of the parties involved.
Identify and briefly discuss the 3 factors raised in the Slate et al. chapter (other than the mental illness crisis itself) that you think contributed to the unwanted death of Taylor Ware. Cite the page number from the chapter for each factor you present. Be sure to provide reasons why you think each was important. 6 pts. Target length: 3 paragraphs
Identify and discuss 4 issues presented in the Slate et al. chapter about training that could reduce the likelihood of this kind of unwanted outcome when officers deal with persons with mental illness crises. 8 pts. Target length: 4 paragraphs
Describe one of the specialized police/mental health approaches reviewed in the Slate et al. chapter and then discuss how two of its features would result in a different response to the Ware interaction (and/or how it could have produced a different outcome). 6 pts. Target length: 3 or so paragraphs.
Apply information found in Slate et al. to the issue of confidentiality of investigation reports presented in the Ware case. Does the federal law on confidentiality of medical matters apply to the Ware case to the investigation report? Why or why not (cite to the Slate et al. chapter). B. How can confidentiality be dysfunctional in developing best practices for dealing with mentally ill citizens? 2 pts. Target length: 2 or so sentences on A and on B for a total of 4 or so sentences.
Go online and learn more about current medical thinking regarding “excited delirium.” Summarize that information and cite your source and provide 1 reason to establish that you used a credible and up-to-date reference. Then, briefly discuss how that “diagnosis” affects accountability and interferes with changing police procedures. 2 pts. Target length: 2 paragraphs (one to summarize the information and the credibility of your reference, and one to discuss the accountability and change issue)