Salt Lake County DA Highlights Mental Health Crisis in Criminal Justice System
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill recently addressed a criminal justice and mental health symposium, recounting a poignant experience that underscored the failings of current mental health support systems. He emphasized the disproportionate number of individuals with mental illnesses within the criminal justice system and called for increased resources to address the crisis.
The Human Cost of Systemic Failure
Gill shared a story about an elderly woman who, desperate for help for her severely mentally ill adult son, inquired about what felonies he could commit to access the county's mental health court. This highlighted the broken institutional support and the impact on families. "That experience reminded me, early on, the impact of mental illness, not only on families and loved ones, but how broken our institutional support had been," Gill said.
Criminal Justice as a De Facto Mental Health Provider
Gill pointed out that the largest mental health facilities in the U.S. are often jails, such as Rikers Island, Twin Towers Jail in Los Angeles, and Cook County Jail in Chicago. He noted the disproportionate presence of people with mental illnesses in jail compared to the general population, and also cited data indicating that nearly 25% of all police shootings involve an encounter with a mentally ill person, a figure he believes may be even higher based on his experience reviewing officer-involved shootings.
Call for Increased Resources and Civil Commitment Expansion
With underfunded mental health centers and reliance on low-level courts, Gill argued that Utah needs to reconsider its resource allocation for the federally-proposed expansion of civil commitment. The state is already exploring increasing its number of civil commitment beds, including a proposal to add over 300 beds to the new homeless services campus in northwest Salt Lake City.
Addressing the Criminalization of Mental Illness
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has also advocated for mental health expansion. Gill stated, "The criminalization of public health issues became our norm. You and I would not criminalize somebody with heart disease, you and I would not criminalize somebody for having diabetes. Unfortunately, mental illness, driven by shame, stigma and fear, continues to be criminalized, even today." City justice courts, which handle low-level offenses, lack the resources to properly address the complexities of individuals with mental illnesses.
Seeking Solutions and Systemic Change
Salt Lake County has partnered with the Leifman Group, led by retired judge Steven Leifman, to identify gaps in the system. Kelly Colopy, director of the Salt Lake County Human Services Department, affirmed the county's commitment: "We really are focused on this work... I don’t like the outcomes that we’re seeing. And I also know that criminal justice is not the space where we want people to land."
