Much of the Alligator coverage in the past two weeks has dealt with the actions of the University Police during the tragic shooting of graduate student Kofi Adu-Brempong. But another, equally great tragedy is the scant coverage of the extremely poor response to a man suffering from poor mental health.
It appears that on the day of the shooting there was no trained mental health professional speaking to Adu-Brempong, only his faculty adviser. University Police seemed to be centered on preserving public safety, which is the primary goal of a police department. On the other hand, the primary goal of a mental health professional trained in crisis intervention is to keep the afflicted individual safe and to diffuse situations with words.
With the media’s focus largely on the actions of the police once inside Adu-Brempong’s apartment (which, make no mistake, is important), the broader question is being ignored: Why weren’t the police officers accompanied by a mental health professional when they knew Adu-Brempong was delusional and unstable? Does UPD have staff in place to help work through these situations? If it does, why wasn’t anyone sent to Corry Village trained in crisis intervention? This certainly won’t be the last time a UF student threatens to hurt himself or herself. We must answer these questions and work to improve our response to people with mental illness — ideally before there is another similar crisis. I urge the Alligator and its readers to seek the answers to these questions in the days and weeks ahead.
