There can be no greater pain than that of a parent losing a child. None. Professors Sylvester and Iyun Osagie not only have to contend with the untimely death of their son, but they are also forced to deal with the thought that their call for help may have precipitated this tragedy. How utterly, heartbreakingly cruel to inflict this extra layer of pain on these parents.
254 people killed by police year-to-date
39 of them suffered from mental illness
11 of the 39 were said to be armed with knives
7 of the 39 were definitively black (18 listed as unknown)
Twenty-nine-year-old Osaze Osagie suffered from mental illness and didn’t survive his interaction with those who came to see to his well-being.
Osagie, a 29-year-old African-American man diagnosed with autism, was shot and killed when three borough police officers were attempting to serve a mental health warrant at Osagie’s apartment along Old Boalsburg Road. According to an affidavit, Osagie was shot after he brandished a knife, didn’t obey verbal commands to put the knife down, and “came after the officers.”
His father, Sylvester Osagie, reported earlier his son was missing and had been acting erratically, similar to when he was off his medication, according to the court filing.
So let’s review this: Worried parents called the police to report that their son was having a mental crisis. He needed help. He may not have been taking his medication. The cops, armed with a mental health warrant, went...went to do what? What did they expect to find when they got there? How did they prepare for this visit?
A Mental Health Warrant authorizes law enforcement to take a person into custody who shows symptoms of a mental illness and is likely to cause harm to himself or others. ... The warrant orders a person to undergo a mental health evaluation by a doctor to determine if hospitalization is necessary.
It’s reported that Osaze brandished a knife and refused orders to drop it. Refused orders. Do you think the grand jury will buy that defense? That a man going through a mental crisis was expected to be able to hear, understand, and comply with orders from strangers with guns?
What exactly should the cops have done?
In this country, a formula known as “the 21-foot rule” has shaped police responses. A 1983 article by a Salt Lake City police instructor said an attacker with a knife could close that distance before an officer could shoot. But the rule has little basis in actual experience. In six years of data, Zimring found no instance in which an assailant with a knife charged an officer and inflicted mortal wounds.
Body armor has made a big difference. But as the Camden episode shows, cops can also protect themselves by staying back, with guns or Tasers in hand, while imploring the person to surrender. A training guide published last year by the Police Executive Research Forum noted that with methods of this kind, police can buy time to build rapport with the subject and get other officers and equipment to the scene to effect a bloodless resolution.
The guide notes that officers sometimes ask how long they should let such encounters go on. The answer: “As long as it takes.”(my bold)
How about:
1. Get protective shields
2. Get his parents there to help
3. Wait him out
5. Worst-case scenario, shoot him in the arm or throw a smoke bomb
That is, of course, if you are really there to help.
Parens Patriae Obligations
Lost in the hail of gunshots is the idea that by law, the police have a special obligation to see to the well-being of those who are mentally challenged. That’s right. We are not just asking law enforcement officers to act out of the kindness of their hearts...though wouldn’t that be lovely if they operated out of love and kindness. We are not just asking them to employ patience and empathy when interacting with people who are not in full control of their mental faculties...though that would make the world of a difference. No, we are asking them to act to preserve life because it is their job to care.
The rationale for the police to intervene in the lives of persons with mental illness derives from two common-law principles: the power and authority of the police to protect the safety and welfare of the community, and the state's paternalistic or parens patriae authority, which dictates protection for citizens with disabilities who cannot care for themselves, such as those who are acutely mentally ill (5,6). Often both principles are involved when police are dealing with persons with mental illness who pose a threat of danger to the community or to themselves.
I contend that they are doing a shitty job of fulfilling that specific legal obligation. I don’t think that the law meant that you should kill people in order to protect them from themselves.
Black & mentally incapacitated — a deadly combination
Osaze was not a poor, loveless, homeless black man roaming the streets. He had human and financial resources, and yet his money, his education, his parents, his connections made absolutely no difference to the cops who responded to the call for help.
Both of Osagie’s parents, Sylvester and Iyunolu Osagie, are longtime Penn State faculty members. Sylvester Osagie is the director of Water-Energy-Food Systems and an adviser for Penn State Global Programs. Iyunolu Osagie is an emeritus professor in the Department of English and African Studies at the university and an English professor at Oregon State University.
A scholarship fund in his memory
The family hopes additional educational support programs will be available at the university to train law enforcement in how to handle those experiencing mental health crises, according to Penn State. Osagie was a former Penn State student.
“Osaze was a man of peace. Despite his health challenges, he deeply cared for others and wanted the best for them. His love was unconditional under all circumstances,” the Osagie family said in a statement. “Given the experiences of Osaze’s life and the circumstances surrounding his death, we are very much interested in a scholarship fund that symbolizes peace, reconciliation and the need to care for the vulnerable in our society.”
Rest in peace, dear Osaze. You deserved so much better.
Our condolences to his grieving parents.