A bill being sponsored by Missouri Congressman Wesley Bell would require data collection from encounters between police and suspects suffering from mental illness.
“As a son of a retired police officer, you know, our staff, myself, we’re always thinking about how do we improve public safety,” Bell told Missourinet. “And I’m not talking about from the partisan lens and picking the red or blue jersey, but how do we actually make our community safer?”
Specifically, his bill would require the U.S. Attorney General, with input from the Department of Health and Human Services, to collect annual data on law enforcement interactions with persons with mental health conditions.
“When we look at folks who come through the criminal justice system with mental health issues, particularly serious and violent offenders, there were often points in time where had there been some treatment,” Bell said. Many, or at least some of these situations, could have been avoided.”
Bell, a Democrat, said the data would be used strictly for research and statistical analysis, and that individuals’ privacies would be shielded. He also said he’s reaching out across the aisle to Republican members of Congress to support his bill.
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