Dear Mr. Earley,
Thank you for your testimony at the Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing entitled: “Breaking the Cycle: Mental Health and the Justice System”… Attached are additional written follow up questions from Committee members…”
From Chairman Chuck Grassley:
I believe it is uncontested that mental health and mental illness have played at least some, if not the primary role in incidents that are now known by chilling, geographic, monikers such as Virginia Tech, New Town, Aurora, and Roanoke. As the Wall Street Journal reported late last fall, we need to make sure we are getting to these individuals when they are struggling with mental health issues, but before they spiral into full blown crisis.
Given that there are multiple schools of thought on how best to handle the mental health crisis as it relates to mass murders, what do you believe would be the most effective way to keep mentally ill individuals from harming others? Put another way, what can we do to help these ill individuals, but also prevent yet another mass murder?
RESPONSE FOR THE RECORD FROM PETE EARLEY, AUTHOR, JOURNALIST
As the parent of an adult son with a severe mental illness, I cringe whenever I see a news report about someone who is psychotic committing a violent act, such as a mass shooting.
It is important to put these shootings into context.
*Overall, persons with mental illnesses commit only five percent of all crimes. (1.)
*Overall, persons with mental illnesses are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violence. (2.)
*When it comes to mass shootings, a study found that only 11 percent of mass shootings between 2009 and 2015 involved gunmen suspected of having mental health problems. (3.)