Herman Whitfield's Family Called for Help During a Mental Health Crisis. Cops Killed Him Instead

[Uncle Joe]

We continue our look at the tragic deaths of two Black men who were killed while experiencing mental health crises. Award-winning piano virtuoso Herman Whitfield III died in 2022 after he was repeatedly tasered, handcuffed and pinned to the ground by Indianapolis police officers. Whitfield's family had called 911 to ask for help as their son experienced a mental health crisis in their home, but instead of sending an ambulance as requested, police officers showed up and attacked Whitfield, even as he said he couldn't breathe while being restrained. Whitfield's death was ruled a homicide, but on Friday a jury acquitted the two Indianapolis officers. "Herman was killed in our home right in front of us," says Gladys Whitfield, Herman's mother. "In a case where an individual is having a mental health crisis, the officers are supposed to take time, try to negotiate, talk to the person, use persuasion and just try to deescalate." Whitfield is also a former public interest law attorney and a current federal administrative law judge.

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[Bluetus]

1. This case is more complicated than that.

I knew the victim personally and performed with him. He was a rare musical talent. That is all true.

And what happened was a tragedy no matter how one looks at it. But this is an old case that happened long before police forces were getting "enlightened" about how to deal with cases of extreme mental breakdown that very definitely could put poorly trained officers in danger.

I am not trying to justify the officers' actions, but this police department (like most others) did not have the organization, resources or training to deal with this.

And I would point out that many efforts to try to improve department capability got lost in the BLM movement's "defund" rhetoric, which was very definitely NOT helpful. In many respects, BLM made a bad situation even worse by polarizing the environment, making it harder for communities to come together on solutions. I have seen that first hand in this particular case.