AG To Host Forum About Intersection Of Mental Health And Law Enforcement

Local and state officials will hold a conversation on mental health issues and the impact they have on race, justice and the law enforcement community.

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill said officers deal with community members facing their own serious mental-health issues; and one key to helping de-escalate potentially explosive interactions is to help connect all individuals — both police and civilians — with resources that protect the mental health of everyone involved.

“Part of it is creating an awareness on everyone’s part and moving towards a better focus on how we can take better care of our police and their mental health, as well as what we can do to improve the mental health of our community," Hill said.

Hill will host the forum.  He said the goal is to create a stronger awareness of mental health aspects that typically are not addressed.

“We wanted to focus on a more subtle approach to what goes on in the minds of these people or these groups that seem to be confronting each other so we can move towards a point where they are no longer confronting each other but working with each other,” Hill said.

Some of the panelists include the director of the Marion County Public Health Department, Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears and U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who will deliver the forum’s keynote address.

The forum will take place from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the Hyatt Regency Indianapolis, and will be live-streamed on the Herozona Foundation's Facebook page.