Deadly Force: Police and the Mentally Ill:
Part 1: When police pull the trigger in crisis, the mentally ill often are the ones being shot
Part 2: Across nation, unsettling acceptance when mentally ill in crisis are killed
Part 3: Maine police make spotty use of crisis training
Part 4: Families mostly powerless when mentally ill adult resists help
“Five separate fatal shootings of mentally ill people by Maine police in 2011 prompted the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram to examine law enforcement’s use of deadly force. Since 1990, police have fired on 101 people, many of them mentally ill, and in every case the state attorney general ruled that the shooting was justified. The newspaper sought to find out why so many mentally ill Mainers were being shot and whether the outcomes were avoidable. The investigation, involving hundreds of interviews and thousands of pages of documents, revealed that Maine and the rest of the country have failed to employ methods or invest in training that could defuse life-threatening situations with mentally impaired people.”
Read more from the Portland Press Herald here: Deadly Force: Police and the Mentally Ill (Portland Press Herald, December 8, 2012)
Related Links:
Portland Press Herald Reported “Reportedly Suicidal Woman Shot by Rumford Cop” (2014)
Portland Press Herald Reported “Friends of Maine Woman Left Confused by Police Shooting” (2014)
Maine Police Shootings of Individuals with Mental Illness: Recent Incidents and Concerns
Red Flags: Disciplinary History for “Aggressive, Intimidating” Maine Police Officer Who Targeted Disabled Veterans in 2010; 4 Years Later Involved in the Shooting of Suicidal Woman (2005)
Finance Committee Member Receives First Menacing Anonymous Letter From Bad Actors in Rumford, Maine (2010)
Citizen Complaint to Attorney General: Overview of Police Officer’s Disturbing History Prior to Connection in Officer Involved Shooting of A Suicidal Woman With Mental Illness
Maine Newspaper & Police Department Leaders Assist Documented Abusive Police Officer in Dehumanization of Disabled Veterans and Kids During a Mental Health Crisis
“Veteran Advocates” Use Defamatory Newspaper Article & the Cops Who Created the Narrative to Bounce Medically Retired Disabled Veterans Out of Washington DC
The Most Dangerous Moments of Our Life: Targeted by an Abusive Cop with Impunity Who Shot A Suicidal Woman During a Mental Health Crisis Four Years Later (2024)
Surviving Injustice: Disabled Veterans Battling to Overcome a Defamatory Article in a Rural Maine Newspaper (2024)
Jennifer and Lee 