Deadly Police Shootings Spark Father's Push For More Mental Health Training

Chris Jensen's schizophrenic son was fatally shot by police in Pasco, Washington, last year after approaching them with a knife. The death, he says, was similar to the recent Pasco police shooting death of a Mexican immigrant whose family suspected him of being mentally ill.

Chris Jensen slowly made his way to the last pew inside St. Patrick Parish in Pasco, Washington.

As he did, the funeral service for Antonio Zambrano-Montes, despite being in Spanish, was all too familiar as it unfolded before him — the grieving family at the front, the long wooden benches, even the sermon by Father Steven Werner about healing and community.

In an instant, he was transported to the funeral of his 34-year-old son, Brad, six months before.

"It just brought everything back, what I had to face that day," Jensen told BuzzFeed News. "I could visualize my son there, it was tough."

Jensen's son, like Zambrano-Montes, was fatally shot by Pasco police. In both cases, Jensen believes the men slipped through the cracks of the mental health system and that police failed to de-escalate the situation in the moments before opening fire.

"The system failed them," said Jensen, who was a detective for the Pasco Police Department for about 10 years. He served on the city council for another 12.

According to a 2013 report by the National Sheriffs' Association, at least half of people shot and killed by police nationwide have mental problems.

The shooting of Zambrano-Montes, whose family suspects he was mentally ill, launched a series of protests in the largely Latino city of Pasco, Washington. It drew comparisons to the fatal police encounters in Ferguson, Missouri, and Staten Island.

Jensen said he chose to publicly speak about his son's death after reports and cell phone footage of Zambrano-Montes' shooting emerged.

In July 2014, Brad Jensen was fatally shot by two police officers after refusing to drop a knife and approaching officers, authorities said.

Zambrano-Montes — who had had several encounters with law enforcement over the years — was shot by police responding to reports that he had been throwing rocks at passing cars. Two officers who responded were allegedly struck by rocks before giving chase.

A video shows Zambrano-Montes run from police, turn around, and move his arms before being shot by the officers. He had several encounters with law enforcement over the years.

Zambrano-Montes' ex-wife filed for a protective order for her and their young daughters after he threatened to kill her many times, physically abused her, and put a gun on her, the Tri-City Herald reported.

In 2014, he was convicted of assault after he threw a rocking chair and tried to grab an officer's gun from his belt while under the influence of methamphetamine.

People with mental issues acting irrationally, like throwing rocks, may be perceived as a threat, Jensen said, but they're also not in a state of mind to obey an officer's commands.

It appears as though using deadly force is the first resort instead of being the last, he added.

"I can see it through the eyes of the police, I can see it through the eyes of the community, and now through the eyes of a father who has lost a son to a police killing," Jensen said.

Brad Jensen had a history of alcohol, drug, and mental health issues, all of which resulted in several encounters with police, his father said. He was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and placed in involuntary treatment three times.

About three weeks before he was shot, Brad Jensen wrote an email — obtained by BuzzFeed News — to a mental health counselor online.

"Feeling suicidal but don't know how to explain or feel comfortable talking to people about personal stuff. I feel the only solution is to take my own life and others agree," he wrote.

The next day, two police officers conducted a welfare check on Brad and arrested him when they determined there was a $350 warrant for his arrest for failing to pay a fine, according to Jensen and police records.

Chris Jensen said it would've been a good opportunity to get his son into mental health treatment. At the time, he was under a court order that would've sent him into involuntary treatment if his condition worsened, or if he was a danger to himself or others.

The judge released Brad on the condition he pay the $350 fine the following week. Chris Jensen then called his son's counselor and a crisis center in the hope of having him committed.

On July 28, Brad's uncle and girlfriend called Pasco police to report that he was threatening suicide and throwing a knife at his bedroom door. Shortly after officers arrived, he emerged from the house and started to walk toward the officers with a kitchen knife in his hand.

Officers ordered him to stop and drop the knife, but he didn't, authorities said. The officers then opened fire, hitting him nine times. They were eventually cleared by prosecutors from any criminal wrongdoing.

According to a Pasco Police Department memo, Brad was known to police to have had a history of making comments about "suicide by cop." A study in the Journal of Forensic Sciences found that one-third of police shootings were from people attempting to commit "suicide by cop."

Jensen contends police officers are not adequately trained to deal with people who have mental health issues.

Pasco Police Chief Robert Metzger, though, said his officers are adequately trained and constantly interact with people who suffer from mental disorders. He said Pasco officers are regularly trained through the Crisis Intervention Team program.

The report by the National Sheriffs' Association noted that the training is only making the best of a bad situation. It went on to say that people with mental disorders should be treated by health professionals, but that the current system results in police officers becoming armed social workers.

Metzger said tackling mental health issues is going to take additional funding for facilities at the state and local level, noting that the last three fatal police shootings in Pasco involved people who had mental issues and were on methamphetamines.

"The combination has become a real issue for us," Metzger said. "There's no easy solution to this and we certainly don't want to see what happened to Mr. Jensen or our most recent shooting occur again."

Jensen said he too doesn't have the answers, but that's not going to stop him from asking the questions.

"I'm not trying to point fingers at the police and mental health community," he said. "Every day, I ask myself, 'Did I do enough? Could I have done more?'"

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