words by Charles Brooks
Over a span of just eight days, a few months now back in June, three Black people experienced mental crises and are now dead.
Bilal “BJ” Abdullah shot by police. Pytorcarcha Brooks shot by police. Donnie Melton was handcuffed, in leg restraints yet died in police custody.
The multiple deaths in such a short period of time compelled the City Council to hold a hearing.
Their deaths are shedding light not only on a broken 911 diversion program but are increasingly serving as a reminder of the ongoing issues with the Baltimore PD that includes their response to mental crises and beyond.
Their deaths drew immediate attention but the combination of media-driven narratives and political misleadership have disabled the sense of urgency.
There’s a dismissal of the realities that should enable this sense of urgency such as the prevalence of mental illness in Baltimore City, and the historical trauma that continues to shape and influence today's material conditions.
There’s also the difficult decisions people have to make today in their own personal economies as their cost-of-living increases. As more and more folks deal with their issues of housing and food insecurity, the likelihood of experiencing mental crisis rises.
Blacks make up nearly 60% of the population where according to Baltimore Health Services Baltimore, more than 107,000 accessed care exceeding costs of more than $52 million.
These deaths are also a reminder of the 2017 consent decree that outlined the concerns that led to establishing the 911 Diversion program. The Gibson-Banks Center for Race and the Law makes this point in their statement to the City Council, “…The consent decree outlined and documented a long history of using unreasonable force against persons who are experiencing behavioral health crises, particularly Black people and youth, underscoring the urgent need for crisis response systems that do not involve police…”
A recent report by the Baltimore City Behavioral Health Collaborative underlines this point, “Black Baltimore residents who experience behavioral health crises disproportionately interact with BPD officers when compared to residents of other races and ethnicities. Black Baltimoreans in crisis disproportionately interact with BPD officers compared with people of other races.”
4270 emergency calls were made.
BPD officers interacted with 2,048 persons in crisis; 74% were Black even though Black residents comprise only 57% of Baltimore’s population.
BPD reported 439 use of force incidents, 40 (9%) of which occurred in response to behavioral health-related calls for service.
Meanwhile, the deaths cast a spotlight on the ongoing issues with the 911 Diversion Project compelling the City Council to hold a hearing.
As the hearing concluded though, there were more questions than answers.
For example, nearly 4,300 emergency calls were made but only 28, amounting to less than 1% were diverted to 988. $10 million spent on educating the public resulting in less than a third of the public are aware of the 988 number. An outdated computer aided dispatch system often leading to frequent outages. The city’s one mobile response team, saddled with response times of nearly two hours extending well beyond the national standard of one hour.
These hearings witnessed frustration and tensions escalated from folks both working people - both Black and White as critical questions were left unanswered.
Three people were killed by the police but had to sit and listen to the police role reduced to their lack of de-escalation training. The use of deadly force managed to escape scrutiny from local legislators. Instead, there were suggestions of adding more layers to Baltimore’s political bureaucracy. And more training.
The attempt to frame the solutions around transparency and accountability diverts attention and critical resources away from what’s needed to provide the needed mental health care.
The publicized failures of the 911 Diversion program and police can trigger a different conversation about health care and mental illness in Baltimore City. The 911 Diversion program is inherently vulnerable to shifts in political priorities typically revealed in annual budget allocations.
For instance, $9.8 million is allocated to the Baltimore City Health Department compared to $614 million for the police.
This compels a self-determined discussion around community control and community-based solutions, that identifies needs and makes demands.
The answers lie in the capacity to hold discussions that are community-based, and community directed where a course of action is defined. It’s a conversation and discussion that instills a renewed sense of urgency, particularly during the current time of chaos and upheaval.
We’re reminded that people have the right to take charge of their own affairs and resources, to participate in shaping policies and making decisions that directly affect their lives, their current conditions.
There is an opportunity to shift the discussion to building a human rights framework that removes police and meets the necessary mental and behavioral needs of the working-class communities in Baltimore City.
Additional Resources:
City of Baltimore - File #: LO25-0026, Documents from the August 27th Baltimore City Council Hearing such as written statements for public testimony, meeting minutes, and the PowerPoint presentation from Baltimore City officials.
Resources and Reports | Baltimore Police Department
City of Baltimore Consent Decree
Behavioral Health 9-1-1 Diversion | City of Baltimore Consent Decree
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