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Press Release

COMMUNITY GROUP OUTRAGED BY YET ANOTHER DEATH DUE TO POLICE

Tuesday November 27, 2007 at 2:00 PM, Rights for Imprisoned People with Psychiatric Disabilities (RIPPD) will hold a press conference/rally at 1 Police Plaza. This rally is being held in direct response to the recent death of Khiel Coppin, an 18-year-old man killed after being shot by police.

RIPPD is a grassroots; social justice organization made up of currently and formerly incarcerated inmates with psychiatric disabilities and their family members. We are outraged by the blatant misconduct of the police officers who responded to the scene. This incident highlights the lack of understanding and compassion of the New York City Police Department. From our own experience, we know that police are not properly trained to work with people with psychiatric disabilities. This incident only heightens our awareness of this.

We come forth as experts in the mental health and criminal justice field with an appropriate solution. Many police departments, including those in Chicago, IL, Memphis, TN and Los Angeles, CA., have taken pro-active steps in building relationships with the mental health community and are preventing the criminalization of mental illness by implementing Crisis Intervention Teams (CITs). CITs allow police officers, with specialized training, to better respond to mental health emergency calls.

As fighters for justice, we demand that the New York Police Department take immediate action to implement policies and procedures (i.e. CITs) to prevent further unnecessary deaths.