Policing and the mentally challenged
The tragic death of Christopher Hackney at the hands of Redstone Township police should prompt an examination of how officers and others in positions of authority handle the special circumstances thrown their way by persons with mental health issues.
At the end of January, Hackney, 27, was pronounced dead at a home on rural Lyndale Road following a call summoning police. According to the Herald-Standard, the family called state police, worried that a man – presumably the victim – might hurt himself.
A Pittsburgh television news report had a slightly different version of events. KDKA’s Erika Stanish reported that an unspecified “someone” noticed social media posts before calling 911, which triggered the police response.
Hackney’s mental health problems were revealed by his sister on a GoFundMe account. Amber Mower said her brother struggled with mental health issues “for many years.”
Anyone meeting her brother, she wrote, discovered his genuine warmth. “He truly wanted the best for everyone, and it breaks our hearts that he couldn’t find peace…. He left us far too soon.”
KDKA’s Stanish spoke with a neighbor who told her that Hackney was “a bright kid” who “wasn’t doing well.”
“It’s very heartbreaking,” this neighbor said. “Overall, he was misunderstood. It’s very sad.” She added that Christopher’s mom and dad are terrific people.
It’s nearly impossible to imagine the shattering nature of this experience for all concerned. The family’s devastation was palpable in Christopher’s obituary posted online by Skirpan Funeral Home of Brownsville. “He loved the family cat Friday,” the obit read.
It must also be a remarkably unsettling moment for the police officer involved in the shooting. It’s pretty certain that no one wearing a badge pinned to his or her blouse leaves home in the morning hoping to gun someone down.
Fatal police shootings always raise concerns and worries. This is especially the case when individuals like Christopher are involved. The mentally ill are among the most vulnerable members of our society.
According to an article that appeared in last month’s Journal of Preventive Medicine, deadly police shootings derive from a “complex” of “interactions,” not “one single factor.”
A paper prepared for Criminology and Public Policy, by Robin S. Engel and two other scholars, insists that mentally ill persons with “comorbid” conditions “are more likely to have force used against them [by police], and more likely to be perceived as resistant” to police commands than others without “behavioral health disorders.”
In addition, Engel and the others say, “People with co-occurring disorders are more likely to be perceived as violently resisting police officers and having force used against them.”
“When force is used,” the Engel study claims, “it is usually in response to behaviors that include resisting officer requests, acting disrespectfully, attacking officers, possessing a weapon or fleeing.” The paper pointedly notes that officers take little or no notice of “symptoms of mental illnesses” when deciding to unholster their weapons and fire.
It’s uncertain whether any of these circumstances pertain to the shooting death of Christopher Hackney. Authorities, either out of an abundance of caution or for other reasons, have been excessively circumspect in their public revelations.
Indeed, there appears to be an embargo on information surrounding Hackney’s death.
Between 2015 and 2022, nearly 7,000 persons died in police shootings nationwide. In 2022, 1,096 individuals were killed by police, nearly all male; of these, 3,545 were white and 1,824 were Black.
It’s pretty clear that some fatal police shootings are justified. Police are not required to be shot at first before responding with force equal to the occasion.
It’s also safe to surmise that some of the dead would be alive today if officers, and the departments they work for, were to take a different approach in dealing with mentally challenged individuals.
“De-escalation” training and “Crisis Intervention Training” for police are being tried in some locales. CIT results have been “nuanced and complicated,” according to the Engel paper. At the same time, there are encouraging signs that methods and training different from today’s methods and training might just work to end some of the slaughter that goes year after year in neighborhoods like the one on Lyndale Road in Redstone Township.
Richard Robbins lives in Uniontown. He can be reached at dick.l.robbins@gmail.com.