According to the data I collected in 2011, about 25 percent of the people shot by the police (about 300 of them) were mentally ill and/or suicidal. As a group, they were much older than ordinary arrestees, with many over 50 years old. Last year the police shot about 80 women, most of whom had histories of mental illness.
The Michael Ferryman Shootout
On New Year's Day, 2011, the Clark County Sheriff's Office received a report that someone was firing a gun from a trailer at a campground near Enon, Ohio, fifty miles west of Columbus. Deputy Sheriff Suzanne Hopper responded to the call and was photographing a set of shoe impressions at the campground when someone inside a trailer with a shotgun killed her with a blast to the head. (Hopper would be the first of 173 police officers in 2011 to be killed in the line of duty.)
Dozens of police officers responded to the shooting and identified the shooter as 57-year-old Michael Ferryman. Using a bullhorn, a police officer tried to coax Ferryman out of the trailer. When the subject didn't respond, his girlfriend gave it a try but failed as well. The standoff ended following a brief gun battle in which Ferryman was shot to death by the police. In the exchange, an officer was shot in the shoulder. Rushed to a hospital in Dayton, the officer survived his wound.
Michael Ferryman had a history of mental illness and violence. In 2001, he had shot at a police officer. At his trial, the jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity. After a few years in a mental institution, Ferryman received a conditional release. Without the close supervision provided by the institution, he eventually stopped taking his anti-psychotic medication.
Legislators to the Rescue
On the one year anniversary of Officer Hopper's death, several state legislators in Ohio floated the idea of creating a database containing the names of people who have committed crimes but were found not guilty by reason of insanity. In addition to the constitutional and ethical issues a law like this would raise, such legislation would not make law enforcement any safer. It wouldn't have saved Deputy Hopper's life. She had been killed before anyone knew Michael Ferryman was the shooter in the trailer. Moreover, insanity defences are successful less than one percent of the time. In the state of Ohio, the database would contain only a handful of names.
This idea is another example of politicians proposing absurd, feel-good legislation aimed at fooling voters into thinking they are solving serious and difficult problems.
The Michael Ferryman Shootout
On New Year's Day, 2011, the Clark County Sheriff's Office received a report that someone was firing a gun from a trailer at a campground near Enon, Ohio, fifty miles west of Columbus. Deputy Sheriff Suzanne Hopper responded to the call and was photographing a set of shoe impressions at the campground when someone inside a trailer with a shotgun killed her with a blast to the head. (Hopper would be the first of 173 police officers in 2011 to be killed in the line of duty.)
Dozens of police officers responded to the shooting and identified the shooter as 57-year-old Michael Ferryman. Using a bullhorn, a police officer tried to coax Ferryman out of the trailer. When the subject didn't respond, his girlfriend gave it a try but failed as well. The standoff ended following a brief gun battle in which Ferryman was shot to death by the police. In the exchange, an officer was shot in the shoulder. Rushed to a hospital in Dayton, the officer survived his wound.
Michael Ferryman had a history of mental illness and violence. In 2001, he had shot at a police officer. At his trial, the jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity. After a few years in a mental institution, Ferryman received a conditional release. Without the close supervision provided by the institution, he eventually stopped taking his anti-psychotic medication.
Legislators to the Rescue
On the one year anniversary of Officer Hopper's death, several state legislators in Ohio floated the idea of creating a database containing the names of people who have committed crimes but were found not guilty by reason of insanity. In addition to the constitutional and ethical issues a law like this would raise, such legislation would not make law enforcement any safer. It wouldn't have saved Deputy Hopper's life. She had been killed before anyone knew Michael Ferryman was the shooter in the trailer. Moreover, insanity defences are successful less than one percent of the time. In the state of Ohio, the database would contain only a handful of names.
This idea is another example of politicians proposing absurd, feel-good legislation aimed at fooling voters into thinking they are solving serious and difficult problems.
No comments:
Post a Comment