SHAKER HEIGHTS, OH — A recent News 5 Investigation exposed how police mishandled a mental health response where they ended up breaking a mentally ill woman’s arm, and then she received a sizable settlement against University Circle. Now, we are following through with a deep dive into these kinds of mental crisis calls to show you how one city is doing it differently.
We don’t just report the initial story—we follow through to its conclusion. Read and watch our previous reporting on this story below and see more stories that we've followed through on here.
JUN WANG AND MANY OTHERS
“I’m fighting for the people who are suffering with this illness,” said Julia Reilinger, whose fight started in 2016. Her brother Jun Wang had been battling mental illnessfor a long time. Julia needed help with him and arranged for him to go to a hospital. However, when police arrived, she said they were aggressive.
“(They barged in saying), ‘I got this order’… just screaming and yelling at him,” Reilinger recalled from that night.
She told us Wang got scared. He didn’t know English. In his fragile state, he ran upstairs. Reilinger said to us that he never had a knife. North Royalton Police said he did. In the end, Wang was shot by police.
“I never get a chance to say goodbye,” Reilinger said.
Wang’s case is similar to many other dangerous outcomes to mental health called we’ve seen in Northeast Ohio. Cameron Howard is still going through mental evaluations after police said he severely stabbed an Orange Village officer at a hotel. Just weeks ago, a Garfield Heights man who originally asked for a suicide hotline was killed in a gunfight with police. And Tanisha Anderson needed mental health compassion from Cleveland Police, but in the end, she died.
“The lack of empathy and the lack of effective communication is what caused Tanisha’s death,” said her uncle, Mike Anderson, in a recent News 5 interview.
A COMMUNITY RESPONDING DIFFERENTLY
One community, though, is having success with a different kind of answer to mental health calls.
“How do I best work with my first responders? How do I best be the tool that they can use?” said Annette Amistadi, who is a trained social worker for Shaker Heights. “A lot of time in a crisis is not just the thing that’s happening right now. It was a situation that happened yesterday.”
She doesn’t have a gun and doesn’t drive a police car. She’s part of a co-response system for mental health issues that come into Shaker’s Police or Fire departments.
“Historically, there’s not been a lot of training centered around behavioral health patients,” said Shaker Fire Chief Pat Sweeney. He told us he sees the value of Amistadi’s work. “She’s very caring, empathetic,” said Sweeney. “She brings a world of experiences in dealing with these types of calls.”
Amastadi has comforted dementia patients, like a recent call where a woman mistakenly thought there was a dangerous man in her home. Her response to these kinds of issues allows extra officers to leave the scene for other emergencies while she helps those in need. “I’m concerned for your safety for today and I want to make sure you are somewhere safe for today,” said Amistadi to the woman during the dementia call. “That’s my biggest thing because I hear how concerned you are… just in your voice. And I haven’t even heard all of it, right?”
The woman’s family eventually arrived, but not all cases come with quick, safe resolutions. “The difficult calls are the ones where there is a swift change where in a sense it happens quickly,” said Amistadi. “Where there was no weapon and now that person has a weapon, where it was calm a second ago but it’s no longer calm.”
MENTAL HEALTH RESPONSE PROGRAM EXPANDING
Initially, the co-response program got a one-year test run in Shaker, but it’s been so successful that it’s expanding. Last month, it received a $400,000 federal grant to branch out to surrounding communities like University Heights, South Euclid, Cleveland Heights, and Richmond Heights (see announcement below). “I want to see it grow. I see the positive aspects of having it here in this community,” said Amistadi.
It’s the kind of program Rielinger wishes would have been around to help her brother Jun. “So, then the people in the crisis feel respected,” said Rielinger. “And then they know they are coming to help them so they are not terrified.”
“Would Jun still be alive today?" we asked her.
“Yes, that’s for sure,” she replied.
She is calling on all cities to increase response training, use mental health experts on mental crisis calls, and have officers mentally evaluated every six months to make sure they are fit to serve. You can read more about her mission at the Jun Wang Foundation site.
This is a follow-through report—a promise we’ve made to you. If you have a story you’d like the News 5 Investigators to follow through on, email them at InvestigatorTips@WEWS.com or call the tip line at 216-431-HELP (4357).
SHAKER HEIGHTS ANNOUNCEMENT:
Expansion of the Mental Health Response Program
"The City has secured a federal grant in the amount of $399,846 to expand its mental health response program. The expansion will include the partner cities in the Chagrin Valley Dispatch network: Cleveland Heights, University Heights, South Euclid and Richmond Heights.
MetroHealth/Recovery Resources will hire two licensed mental health professionals and two peer supports, who, along with the current Shaker Heights social worker, will cover all five partner communities. In addition, a licensed mental health professional will be assigned to the joint dispatch center. The City is pursuing additional funds needed to fully implement this expansion.
The grant is from Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) of the U.S. Department of Justice. Out of 238 agencies that applied for this grant, only 47 were awarded funds. In announcing the grant, COPS Office Director Hugh T. Clements, Jr. wrote, “At the COPS Office, our mission is advancing community policing nationwide… The project you will implement with these award funds contributes to the mission of the COPS Office and the greater goal of reducing crime and building trust between law enforcement and communities served."
