The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A LOCAL clinical psychologist said that more people in society, including police officers, need training in sensitisation and understanding of mental illness.

The comment came after a man who according to police “charged at’’ a police officer with a cutlass was fatally shot by police at a home on Poitier Avenue and Foster Street in Chippingham on Tuesday.

Police had been called to the home by relatives because the deceased had been behaving “erratically,” according to reports.

A cousin of the deceased told reporters what led to the incident, suggesting some mental illness may have been involved. However, the relative noted the deceased has never been diagnosed as a mental patient before.

“The way how he was carrying on, sound like something that needed to be treated – quick and fast,” the relative, who did not want to be named, had previously told The Tribune.

After the shooting, some people argued that police could have used non-lethal means to subdue the deceased instead of deadly force, considering the police were called to help him.

When asked if police are trained in handling suspects with mental health issues, Assistant Superintendent of Police Audley Peters told The Tribune that police are trained in what is called a “use of force continuum”.

“Officers are aware of the various degrees that we use when dealing with suspects whether they be of sound mind or (have) mental issues,” ASP Peters said.

According to the US National Institute of Justice, a use of force continuum “generally has many levels, and officers are instructed to respond with a level of force appropriate to the situation at hand, acknowledging that the officer may move from one part of the continuum to another in a matter of seconds.”

Asked if force is the last alternative when approaching persons with mental health issues, ASP Peters answered: “That is a situational question that only a person involved can determine.”

Dr Wendy Fernander, a clinical psychologist and president of the Bahamas Psychological Association, believes that more people can benefit from sensitisation training as it relates to mental illness.

She said there are misconceptions about mental illness that need to be cleared up, including the assumption that those who are mentally ill “may be automatically aggressive but then they are least likely to be aggressive than person within your general population.”

She added: “So that is some of the information I think people aren’t aware of. So automatically you see someone who is mentally unwell and you think that ‘Oh they’re gonna come after me’ but those are the persons who are more often taken advantage of and less likely to be the perpetrators.”

However, she stressed she was speaking generally and not about the individual involved in this week’s incident.