(Mar. 31, 2016) Two men suffering from untreated severe mental illness have been killed by Vermont police in the past two-and-a-half years, sparking questions about the way law enforcement interacts with individuals in psychiatric crisis (“Police shooting reignites mental-health debate,” Burlington Free Press, Mar. 27).
Burlington police this Monday responded to a call from a property manager claiming a tenant was threatening harm to himself and others. When officers arrived at the apartment building, they found Ralph “Phil” Grenon – a 76-year-old diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia – wielding two large kitchen knives. Grenon refused to talk to police and barricaded himself inside his apartment.
After a five-hour standoff, police finally entered the apartment and Grenon, still armed, advanced toward them and was fatally shot, according to the police report.
Grenon’s daughter, Niki Grenon Carpenter, said she had been trying to have her father committed to a psychiatric hospital, but to no avail.
"I wanted him hospitalized weeks ago and was told their hands were tied," Carpenter said. "It isn't until a situation such as my father's escalates to the point that it did can action be taken, and in his case it was too late. Preventive care is key — proper dosing, proper supervision, all the things that were lacking.”
Grenon’s death bears resemblance to the fatal Burlington police shooting of Wayne Brunette, 49, in late 2013. Both men had long histories of mental illness and had displayed instances of threatening behavior or violence before their deaths.
In the wake of Brunette’s shooting, former Police Chief Michael Schirling criticized the lack of mental health resources available for those suffering with mental illness, noting a 400 percent increase in mental-health related calls over the previous five years. He described a “cascading effect,” in which the lack of programs and hospital beds for those suffering from serious mental illness has stressed community services.
Still, if the Department of Mental Health’s January report to the Vermont Legislature is any indication, there remains an ongoing (and unmet) demand for an increase in hospital beds available for individuals with acute mental health needs.
Vermont offers just 8.3 public psychiatric beds per 100,000 people – far below the 50 bed minimum standard required to provide adequate treatment for individuals with severe mental illness.
The state must address this shortage and provide a bed instead of officer-involved shootings, incarceration, homelessness, and all of the other consequences of non-treatment. Otherwise, tragedies like these will continue to happen.
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