Pete Earley

Chief Roessler Was Among First To Openly Discuss Police Suicides. Also Courageously Condemned Officer Who Used Taser Unprovoked On Delusional Man In Crisis

(11-6-20) Fairfax County (VA) is losing a strong and unwavering advocate for individuals with mental illnesses.

Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. announced this week that he will retire in February after eight years as chief, bringing a close to a nearly 30 years career in law enforcement.

In addition to pushing for Crisis Intervention Team training inside his 1,402 member department, Chief Roessler demonstrated his commitment to ensuring that individuals with mental illnesses be treated decently when he publicly condemned the actions of one of his own officers in June.

Chief Roessler said he was “disgusted” after an officer marched up to an adult male with a history of mental illness and shot him with a taser without provocation before pinning him to the ground. The man had been speaking nonsense and walking in circles in the street. The officer was criminally charged with assault.

Shamefully, but predictably, the Fairfax Fraternal Order of Police expressed outrage and demanded Chief Roessler resign rather than recognizing that one of their own could have better handled the call. That grumbling continues today.

The incident attracted national attention, in part, because the officer was white and the victim was black. In Fairfax County, use of force by police disproportionately affects Black people: 2019 data show that Black residents make up less than 10% of the county’s population, but are involved in 45.6% of police use-of-force incidents.

Chief Roessler’s courage in publicly condemning his officer’s use of force reflected the chief’s long-held concern about how individuals with mental illnesses are viewed and treated. That concern applied to those within police ranks as well as the citizens the police had sworn to protect. Under his direction, the police department produced a video called “Consequences of the Badge” that featured interviews with Fairfax County officers who either had contemplated suicide or had lost a fellow officer or loved one because of a suicide. Chief Roessler was among the first to break the code of silence about police suicides by speaking nationally about suicide by officers. In 2019, 228 American police officers died by suicide. A previous study in 2017, found more died from suicide than were killed in the line of duty.

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(11-4-20) This is the second in a two part account of Lisa Aneiva’s attempt to help her daughter, Mariel Vergara, who has a mental illness, PTSD and autism.)

Janet Hays first heard about a young Hispanic woman being held in disciplinary lockdown inside the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center from a source in law enforcement who was concerned because Mariel Vergara was clearly mentally ill and was racking up more and more criminal charges while incarcerated.

Mariel’s arrest had been a big news story, especially in New Orleans, after she walked naked into a terminal at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International airport in April and demanded to buy a ticket. Deputies were called. There was a confrontation and Mariel was arrested on 5 charges, only to have six more criminal charges added while she was in jail awaiting trial.

Janet had began advocating for better mental health care in her state after a close friend died in 2009 because she couldn’t get mental health care. Hurricane Katrina had devastated the city in 2005 closing Charity Hospital, where her friend always had been treated. The hospital had 128 long-term psychiatric beds and 50 crisis stabilization beds. Janet urged the state to convert the hospital into a modern mental health care and research center but developers were smacking their lips at converting the downtown New Orleans property into condos and shops.  Janet initially formed Healing Minds NOLA, a non-profit advocacy organization, as part of her Charity Hospital campaign. Since then, Healing Minds has expanded into other advocacy efforts. Most recently, Janet broadcasts webinars with guests, including such heavy-weights as U.S. Senator Dr. Bill Cassidy (R.). Even the police have asked her for help dealing with seriously mentally ill residents who are homeless.

Mariel’s mother, Lisa Aneiva, was learning about Janet at about this same time. Lisa, who lives in Northern Virginia, was happy to accept Janet’s help. She told the advocate that she feared Mariel’s mental illness was getting worse in jail. Studies have shown that prolonged isolation while incarcerated exacerbates mental illnesses. Janet was familiar with stories of inmates with mental illnesses in Louisiana being held in isolation cells, often naked in the dark for long periods. The Jefferson Parish Correctional Center also had made headlines after four inmates committed suicide, the last while waiting for a repeatedly delayed mental health examination.

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(11-3-20) This is part one of Lisa Aneiva’s struggle to help her daughter, Mariel, who was arrested in April after she walked nude into a New Orleans Airport. Mariel has a mental illness and was jailed rather than diverted into treatment. )

“What kind of mother are you?”

Lisa Aneiva, a single mother living in Northern Virginia, didn’t understand why she was being criticized on her Facebook page in early April.

Seconds later, another Facebook attack: “How could you let this happen?”

That second comment came with a link to a Fox News article.

“Woman arrested for entering New Orleans airport naked amidst coronavirus lock down.”

Lisa clicked on the link.

“People used to get dressed up to fly. A woman was recently arrested after allegedly arriving at the Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans completely naked. According to local reports, she refused to leave when the airport staff told her that she could not fly with no clothes on.”

The naked woman was Mariel Vergara. Lisa’s 27-year-old daughter.

“Mariel suffers from schizo-affective disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and is on the autism spectrum,” Lisa told me. “At first I was relieved when I read the article.” Mariel had disappeared two weeks earlier after getting into a squabble with a relative. “I was so happy we knew where she was.”

At that moment, Lisa didn’t realize that she and her daughter were about to be swept up in a frustrating and frightening nightmare that continues today. Sadly, what happened to Lisa and Mariel is an all too common experience for parents of adult children who become one of the 2.2 million Americans with mental illnesses who are booked into jail each year.

Rather than getting mental health treatment, their adult child is punished.

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photo courtesy CAHOOTS/White Bird clinic

(10-30-20) The fatal police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr., this week in Philadelphia, who had a mental illness and was wielding a knife, made national headlines, drew comments from both presidential candidates, sparked rioting, and once again raised questioned about whether the police should be the first to respond when someone is in a mental health crisis.

CNN yesterday posted a story about five other recent fatal shootings of Americans in the midst of a mental health crisis.  At least one in four fatal shootings  by police involve a person with a mental illness.

Whenever talk turns about shifting responsibility from the police to mental health workers, the Crisis Assistance Helping Out On the Streets ( CAHOOTS) program in Eugene, Ore.,  is cited as a successful example of how communities can safely lessen police involvement.  An article written by Mark Obbie in The Crime Report highlights the “most thorough, thoughtful stories” about CAHOOTS. Thanks to Obbie and the Crime Report for sharing this index.

Would the CAHOOTS model work in your community?

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(10-23-20) Two recent news stories about law enforcement and mental illnesses are worth reading.

I’ve always supported Crisis Intervention Team training. Years ago, Patti and I donated $500 each year to our local police department to honor a CIT officer of the year. I know of numerous incidents where CIT officers have prevented suicides and helped individuals in crisis get help rather than hauling them to jail.

Sadly, some officers who have undergone CIT training don’t get it. One of the worst instances involves four Springfield, Oregon police officers who underwent CIT training but killed a young man in crisis. I posted a first person blog written by Kimberly Kenny about her brother’s death in July and The Washington Post used that tragic killing this week to illustrated a story with the headline: Fatal police shootings of mentally ill people are 39 percent more likely to take place in small and midsized areas.

The second news story comes from NPR and is entitled: Removing Cops From Behavioral Crisis Calls: ‘We Need To Change The Model.  San Francisco, California is preparing to deploy teams of professionals from the fire and health departments, rather than the police, to respond to most calls for people in a psychiatric, behavioral or substance abuse crisis. The action “will be among the largest and boldest urban police reform experiment in decades.”

When someone becomes violent, there’s often little choice but to have the police respond. But I would argue that they shouldn’t be the first called and, in a majority of cases, don’t need to be involved. In June, I posted a blog about how Albuquerque, Mexico officials were studying ways to free law enforcement from mental health crisis calls.

What’s happening in San Francisco and Albuquerque is a much needed shift that should be endorsed by law enforcement as well as those of us with a family member who has a serious mental illness. My son, Kevin, was shot twice with a taser when the police were called. That didn’t need to happen.

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