Eric Jonathan Brewer wrote: Tanesha Anderson was an American citizen with a disability covered by Congress Americans with Disabilities Act when she was killed by a Cleveland police officer on November 13 for being mentally ill. Why the mental health community isnt calling for a federal investigation by the U.S Department of Justice is a mystery. Her death firmly establishes that the Cleveland police department isnt properly trained to handle the large number of people with mental disabilities living in and visiting the city. Based on what Ive read in published reports, Anderson wasnt under arrest when a city cop tried to place her in a police car on November 13. He should have called EMS to deliver the bi-polar and schizophrenic woman to St. Vincents Charity Hospital instead of trying to force her into the back seat of a police car. Instead of facing a civil rights and negligence claim for her death, city officials could have delivered her medical insurer a bill for the EMS call. Its apparent from published reports that the law enforcement officer treated the mental health patient like he was trained to treat citizens accused of violating laws and ordinances. He didnt have the legal authority to convert the use of the police to car to an ambulance to take Anderson to the hospital, even if thats what the family wanted. Performing EMS and patient transport duties not only violated his oath of office as a law enforcement officer, it violated the citys labor agreement with its paramedics. He should have said no since Anderson hadnt violated any laws, was not under arrest, and was also protected against being deprived of her constitutional rights because of her disability. The cops statutory duty was limited to obeying and enforcing ordinances and laws. Its within the legal duties of a paramedic to transport patients and serve as caregivers. Paramedics are also trained differently than cops to deal with mentally ill patients. A paramedic would have understood her bi-polar and schizophrenic reaction to being confined. This is why federal intervention is needed, and is perhaps an opportunity for U.S. Department of Justice officials to expand the scope of their existing Cleveland police department investigation. Management insight from Martin Flask and Mike McGrath as safety director and police chief could have seen this problem coming and prevented Andersons death with training. Its not as if they havent dealt harshly with mental ill patients in the past. Its now a task that falls to Mayor Frank Jacksons new police chief, Calvin Williams. If Williams is proactive hes already reached out to the mental health community to get a feel for the size of the people with mental disabilities population in Cleveland and the county,and the type of patients police are likely to encounter. If hes proactive hes already asked U.S. Department of Justice investigators to meet with him about adopting a constitutionally-compliant methodology for protecting the public peace against potentially disruptive mental health patients while also protecting their ADA rights from being violated. The idea of trying to stuff a bi-polar and schizophrenic woman into the cramped back seat of a police car used to transport handcuffed citizens accused of violating state laws and ordinances was foolish. Police cars and ambulances are built for different purposes. Theyre as different as the legal duties of police officers and paramedics. Im going to say right off the rip that the cop over-reacted. Anderson wasnt under arrest so when she wanted to get out of the car he should have let her go. He didnt have any legal reason to lawfully detain her that he had reasonably articulated and that she had reasonably understood, and now shes dead. Clevelands Use of Deadly Force Investigative Team (UDFIT) is investigating the cops use of force. Thats a joke. Theyve investigated Cleveland cops over 80 times since 2001. Only one cop has been prosecuted and it wasnt because of UDFIT. I wonder how the cop is going to explain suffocating an unarmed mentally ill woman to death, or smashing her face into the sidewalk. Whats going to be his use of deadly force defense? I felt in fear of my life? I guarantee that will be one of the leading questions hes asked. Like Congress, Cleveland city council could investigate the police departments mental health policies as theyre applied to the circumstances that surround Andersons death and enact legislation to spell out how they want public employees to conduct themselves in dealing with them. It would be an act of extreme good judgement for council to schedule public hearings to listen to the testimony of expert mental health professionals about ways to codify more appropriate behavior from public employees, and to hear from the citizens they serve. Its a damn shame that calling a cop for help brought death to the Andersons familys doorsteps. The Anderson family didnt have to see a loved one being murdered before their eyes, or watch Taneshas face being slammed onto the concrete by a cop trained only to use tactics and not to think. A thinking cop would have thought about his limits and said no to the mental health patients ambulance ride in the back of a squad car. He didnt think, or he thought wrong, and now hes in trouble, Andersons dead because of his wrong thinking and poor training, and Cleveland taxpayers are about to pay-up .... again. The question council and Cleveland taxpayers should also be asking is how many millions have been paid out because of cop misconduct and why with so much training do the abuses continue?
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 05:00:16 +0000
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