Dear Editor,
It has been an age old custom in Guyana that Police Officers were the first point of contact for persons living with mental issues. Such a rationale emanates from two common law principles, one of the police having the authority and the power to protect the safety of the community, and the parens patriae (parent of his or her country, definition from Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary) doctrine which grants state protection for citizens with disabilities such as the mentally ill. There have been so many reports of the first line of contact being called to intervene in situations resulting in grave consequences. Yes, there has also been death on the other side, but not in equal proportion and after all the issue being discussed here is not about Indians and Chiefs. There is an existing need to clearly understand the intricate factors surrounding Police and encounters with mental patients.
According to Public Health Minister George Norton, Kaieteur News, October 11, 2015, “Regarding guidelines they (police) would have been brought up to date with how you deal with a patient, depending on the state of that patient. It is not something that has not been deliberated on…instructions are available,” Minister Norton said. If these instructions are available, (place unstated) am I privileged in assuming the role of devil’s advocate that the officers currently awaiting instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions regarding the murder of Junior Gulliver were negligent in either obtaining the available information, or failed to procure it. “There is a clear Standing Order as to what procedure to follow…but a lot of the ranks don’t see that as part of their duty,” one senior police officer told Kaieteur News. Then it is crystal clear that as night is sure to follow day action should be taken against the non-compliant members of the rank.
The Minister of Public Health went on to further inform Kaieteur News that there is a close collaboration between the Mental Health Unit and the Guyana Police Force. “As a matter of fact our first help line was launched in collaboration with the police. We did some training along with the Police Force on how to deal with persons of unsound mind,” the Minister said. Clear inconsistencies existed as a police rank inquired in the said article
“What about the professional people who are supposed to be trained to deal with the mentally ill? They are supposed to know how to restrain them because the only resort of the police will be their guns,” further adding that even the staff at the Psychiatric Ward of the GPHC appears ill-equipped to deal with violent mentally ill people; it would seem that they too depend on the police. Am I the only one who detects a non- convergence of collaborative attitudes from all spheres surrounding the importance and expectations of police and stakeholders in effectively managing persons with mental illness.
Viewed from a totally humanistic angle, are these expressed statements excerpts from the Shakespearean play “As you Like it” where the playwright wallows in the conflict of opposites, pitting idealism against cynicism, time against timeliness and nature against civilization. In the end the conflicts at play are merely assuaged not resolved. It is blatantly apparent that the Police and the Minister may be in the same book but certainly not on the same page.
Attention is being paid and has been paid but seemingly not much attention is being paid to the prevalence of police intervention and its delicate and fragile intersection with mental illness, homelessness, violence and substance abuse all of which are particularly relevant to policing. The complexities of this dynamic interaction must be fully understood especially by the all members of the first line of contact. On a note of concern it is apparent that the programmes already instituted have obviously lacked efficacy, or perhaps it would be timely if these programmes were rigorously evaluated.
The Force would perhaps also benefit from a “look see’ at what is working in other countries with similar environmental characteristics. Having garnered this knowledge it can assist in isolating the essential components of effective police response that can be promulgated alone or as an essential component of a more extensive programme.
For any success to be charted and deadly encounters to be averted then the most obvious disjoint (operation and cooperation) between the two key primary stakeholders (Police and Mental Health Personnel GPHC) must be faced and aced (tackled and resolved). It would be helpful if the Ranks at all levels were educated about the role and duties of mental health practitioners and vice-versa.
There must be an elimination of the “who does what” or “ought to” attitude in order to establish sustainable and effective collaboration in relation to policies and practices of the stakeholders. This must begin with open dialoguing and a willingness to be collaborators in effectively and proactively managing the mentally ill individual that abound in my Guyana Eldorado. Then and only then will we stop mourning our mentally ill, then and only then will things be: “As We All Like It”.
Yours faithfully,
Yvonne Sam