At least a third of fatal police shootings involve victims who were in mental health crisis or impaired by substance use.
So it’s not surprising that there was evidence of psychosis or other problems that affected the behavior of the two men shot dead by Los Angeles police officers, and a third who died after being repeatedly stunned by officers, in the first week of 2023.
Not surprising, and not acceptable. The Los Angeles Police Department is supposed to be ready for these kinds of encounters, with training, tactics and procedures that diminish the chances that anyone — the suspect, the officer, bystanders — will come to harm. But officers still kill too many people in crisis.
