DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit Police Department Chief James White said the system failed the young man who was shot and killed by police during a mental health crisis on Sunday.
In body camera video Detroit police released showing what happened during the moments before they shot and killed 20-year-old Porter Burks, you hear a critical incident response team trained officer try to calm him. Despite the effort, police then shot Burks when he started to move toward them with a knife.
We are still working to learn many details about what happened, but it raises questions. One question is: what can be done to prevent a mental health crisis from getting to the point where it is deadly?
Related:
Porter Burks' family responds to release of bodycam video of fatal shooting by Detroit Police
Officials say more than 30 shots fired in officer-involved shooting that left 20-year-old man dead
White says police did what they had to. Police say Burks had history of schizophrenia that led to him stabbing family members in March and August of 2020. One of the victims was a 7-year-old girl. Then in June, he allegedly assaulted police after escaping the mental ward of a hospital and was taken back for treatment.
“When he was at the hospital, he should have been kept there, and he was not,” White said.
Mental health experts 7 Action News spoke to say it is unclear whether Burks should have been in the hospital based on the information we have. We do not know details on what services he was offered, had access to or accepted perhaps for a period of time.
So what could have possibly prevented this?
Some police departments are teaming up with mental health providers to help make sure people have help getting the resources they need after police incidents involving the mentally ill.
Hegira Health has partnered with 11 police departments in western Wayne County. Livonia, Canton, Westland and Northville/Plymouth have funded embedded Hegira trained clinicians within their police departments. They are licensed master’s level social workers, counselors or psychologists.
“Police are problem solvers and there are a lot of problems we can’t solve by arresting people. It doesn’t work that way,” Sgt. David Jauras with the Canton Police Department said.
Social workers and counselors follow up to make sure clients get the services they need — for example, during the crucial time after they are stabilized at the hospital.
“That is one of the great things about this program is we have a social worker who can make that linkage,” said Kelly Mays, a Hegira Community Outreach coordinator.
Jauras says it has resulted in a decrease in repeat calls from citizens dealing with mental illness. This frees up police resources, so more action can be taken responding to and preventing crime.
“The earlier we intervene, the better we can provide people with the resources they need,” said Kevin Fischer, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness - Michigan.
Fischer says we don’t know all the facts to assign accountability, but when he heard about Burks, he thought about his son.
Dominique lost his life to suicide as he battled schizophrenia. Fischer says we all need to talk about solutions.
“As a society, we need to become more proactive when we are addressing mental illness,” he said.
