CORRECTIONS
Mentally ill inmates deserve better
BRIAN DAWE
Currently , the three largest inpatient psychiatric facilities in the country are jails : Los Angeles County Jail , Rikers Island Jail in New York City , and Cook County Jail in Chicago each individually house more persons with mental health conditions than any psychiatric institution in the United States .
Housing psychiatric patients in our prisons and jails is an important public safety issue . Of course , we cannot simply excuse unlawful , violent or predatory behavior because of an individual ’ s mental capacity . However , we must also realize that traditional incarceration techniques are mostly ineffective in securing , treating and protecting the growing population of the mentally ill in America .
Throughout history , we have struggled with treating mental illness . By the mid-1950s , psychiatry had concluded that when dealing with the mentally ill , incarceration ( absent treatment ) often exacerbated the situation . Various treatment reforms were initiated , and by 1955 there was one mental health bed available for every 300 citizens . By 2005 , unfortunately , that number was reduced tenfold , to one bed for every 3,000 .
In most instances , individuals who could have been helped with a bed in an accredited institution have not “ gotten better .” Although new drugs and treatments have helped , many patients have simply been shifted from treatment to incarceration . As a result , our prisons and jails have become the nation ’ s largest mental health facilities . There are three times as many seriously mentally ill individuals in our prisons and jails than there are in psychiatric hospitals , according to the Treatment Advocacy Center .
The challenges that this population presents , and the dangers of improper classification and housing assignments , are well known . According to a 2014 report by the Treatment Advocacy Center , “ Ten times more mentally ill people are now in jails and prisons than in state psychiatric hospitals : In 2012 , approximately 356,268 inmates with severe mental illness were in prisons and jails , while about 35,000 severely ill patients were in psychiatric hospitals .”
In 2005 , more than half of the incarcerated inmates had a mental health problem , compared with six years earlier , when that number was only 16 percent , or 283,800 state and local inmates .
According to the Department of Justice :
• 705,600 inmates in state facilities , or 56 percent of the population , had a mental health problem , with 15 percent of them meeting the criteria for a psychotic disorder .
• 479,000 inmates in local jails , or 64 percent of the population , were diagnosed with a mental health issue , with 24 percent of those inmates meeting the criteria for a psychotic disorder .
• 78,800 federal inmates , or 45 percent of that population , were diagnosed with a mental health issue .
• 70 percent of juvenile offenders “ suffer from mental disorders , at least 20 percent experiencing disorders so severe that their ability to function is significantly impaired ,” according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention .
Within the female inmate population , the numbers are worse :
• 73 percent of female inmates in state facilities have a reported mental health issue . ( 75 percent of these inmates met the criteria for substance dependency or abuse .)
• 75 percent of female inmates in jail facilities have reported mental health issues .
Of the state inmates diagnosed with a mental health disorder , 49 percent had a “ violent offense as their most serious offense ,” according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics . In addition , these inmates on average spend five months more behind the walls than inmates without these disorders .
“… we spend far more on imprisonment of the mentally ill than we would otherwise spend on treatment and support .” — Stanford Law Three Strikes Project
So , what ’ s the answer to this problem ? When crimes are committed , society demands reciprocity . That reciprocity can come in many forms : fines , community service , programming ( such as AA and NA ), probation or incarceration . But what does society want or expect when the accused are mentally ill ? What do they expect and want of us ?
How are we to treat this population ? As law enforcement officials , we do not choose who is sent behind those walls every day , nor are we empowered to make the policy decisions on where these men and women are to be housed , or the treatment prescribed . A 2014 survey by the American Correctional Officer Intelligence Network found that Michigan is the only state in which correctional officers are trained to deal with a mentally ill population .
This is an issue that needs to be addressed . With the nation ready , and our politicians looking for broad-based criminal justice reform , this is an issue everyone should agree on : mentally ill inmates belong in designated secure housing units created specifically for that purpose , complete with properly trained officers and psychiatric staff . At the next possible encounter , ask your elected officials how they suggest dealing with a mentally ill individual in our environment . If nothing else , the question will make them think — something that very few have done regarding this issue . d
Brian Dawe spent 16 years as a state correctional officer in Massachusetts , beginning on May 31 , 1982 . He is a co-founder of the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union , administrator for the Corrections and Criminal Justice Coalition , and the executive director for Corrections USA and the American Correctional Officer . He is the originator and owner of the American Correctional Officer Intelligence Network .
20 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ APRIL 2018