Problems Between LAPD, Mentally Ill Targeted

Responding to concerns that police are too quick to use deadly force against the mentally ill, the Police Commission has agreed to form a task force to study how police can better handle people with mental problems.

Establishment of the task force follows a series in The Times last month that described how a dozen mentally ill or unstable people had been killed in the last six years in encounters involving questionable police tactics.

Ted Hayes, a homeless activist, spoke in favor of the task force measure at the Police Commission meeting Tuesday but said more was needed than a change in police policy. He said a new civilian agency is needed to work with the homeless and mentally ill, so that police won’t be put in the role of social workers.

“That is not their job,” he said.

The City Council asked the Police Department earlier this month to review and improve training for police officers in how to deal with the mentally ill.