CLEVELAND — A violent arrest by University Circle Police brings new calls for action after a News 5 exclusive investigation. It involves Latoya Wilson, who was walking through a Cleveland cemetery in May 2022, experiencing mental health issues, and University Circle Police were called. We sat down with a man who knows the consequences of dangerous police responses for the mentally ill.
@news5cleveland We're continuing to investigate why a woman with mental health issues in a cemetery was violently arrested by police. Download our app for the full story.
It was a cold November day in 2014 when Cleveland Police officers responded to a cry for help from the family of Tanisha Anderson, who was bipolar and schizophrenic. She was experiencing a mental crisis as two cops arrived that should have slowed things down and shown empathy.
"If one of them would have said that to the other, maybe she would still be here," said Mike Anderson, who is Tanisha Anderson's uncle.
She was eventually handcuffed face down. He told us during the response, his niece was on the ground praying the Lord's Prayer.
"The empathy was coming from the ground up instead of from (the cops) to the ground," said Anderson. "She had no clue that that was her last prayer."
REACTION TO UNIVERSITY CIRCLE POLICE ARREST
Anderson watched our recent News 5 Investigation into the arrest of Wilson.
"I may not know her personally, but I know what she went through," he told us.
Wilson was praying the same prayer.
"Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name!" she can be heard on police body-worn camera that day in 2022.
Wilson's incident at Lake View Cemetery at the time was nearly eight years after Tanisha Anderson's case. Despite more awareness and police training, Wilson's incident was another reckless outcome in a police response to mentally unstable individuals.
University Circle Police clearly recognized Wilson's state of mind that day: "She definitely got some, I think, mental issues for sure," said one of the officers who was at the cemetery.
"Once he said for sure, that was his opportunity to take control of what was about to happen and prevent what shouldn't have happened," said Mike Anderson.
In the end, Wilson's arm was broken during the officers' arrest. News 5 Investigators did some research and found people with mental health issues are way more likely to experience use of force and injury from police — nearly 11 times more likely. And be killed? 16 times.
Anderson told us people need to respond to the mentally ill just like they would treat a loved one.
"Use that same empathy for someone else. 'Hey, fellas. Let's slow this down. She's just walking through the cemetery,'" said Anderson.
COUNCILMAN: 'They dropped their heads'
"I wasn't happy with these officers," said Cleveland City Councilman Kevin Conwell. He was so upset after watching our investigation that he pulled legislation that would have paved the way for additional funding to the University Circle Police Department. Since then, he said he's met with leaders from University Circle.
"They dropped their head. And they said, 'Councilman, we'll make this right.' They didn't push back against me," said Conwell.
There's a new police chief now and a new director for University Circle. Councilman Conwell said the funding legislation would be tabled until a new plan is enacted, monitored and controlled.
"You must execute the plan, and the plan must have great outcome measures, and it can't change within a year," said the councilman. "It might be several years down the road."
WORKING FOR 'TANISHA'S LAW'
In the meantime, Anderson said he would continue working with Cleveland State and Case Western Reserve universities to push through new legislation called Tanisha's Law, focusing on steps for mental health response.
"All situations won't always call for, let's call, a social worker," said Anderson. "Sometimes you need to act fast, but you need to know how to act fast."
He said it's all especially needed after hearing on body cam officers said that Wilson should have been tased during her incident.
"Anybody reading or looking at that, their stomach has to turn," said Anderson. "Because that could be me, just because I didn't want to leave the cemetery."
University Circle has told News 5 it won't comment on pending litigation but will respect the process.
Anderson said he is meeting with a high-level Cleveland city leader next month about Tanisha's Law, and he's very excited about what could happen from there.
RELATED: Police response questioned after woman with mental problems violently arrested
You can watch more about Wilson's arrest in the player below:
