Mental Health Foundation chief executive Shaun Robinson. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Mental health advocates have slammed the high use of tasers on people in crisis as a damning indictment on a health system which has left police as the default emergency responder.
New research shows more than half of people tasered by police are mentally ill, in distress or suicidal.
The report, commissioned by police as part of a wider investigation into bias within the ranks, found:
- Taser use during mental health calls-out had doubled since 2017
- 54 percent of people tasered between July and December 2022 were in mental distress, mentally unwell or suicidal
- People in mental health residences or in-patient units were tasered on four occasions
- Data on the mental state of those tasered was poor, with written reports often failing to mention mental distress that was evident from body camera footage
- Some police were using a taser as a "compliance" tool
- People clearly experiencing distress were deemed "non-compliant" (rather than unwell or unable to follow instructions)
- Police were unwilling to approach individuals they perceived to be unwell, seeing them as "unpredictable".
In one case described in the report, police officers were called to a property by family members after their relative began smashing windows, cutting himself and making "odd remarks about Satan".
Footage showed officers tasering him in the upper back, causing him to fall to the ground in a seated position.
Police then asked him multiple times to lie on the ground, to which the offender replied "yep".
The officers then told him he was being sectioned under the Mental Health Act. They directed him to put his hands behind his back and lie down on the ground.
However, he continued to sit cross-legged on the driveway, shaking stones on the ground, talking to himself and playing with the taser wires.
When asked if he understood what they were saying, he replied "I do speak English ... my master Satan will win the planet."
As he got up and turned away from police to go back to the house, he was tasered again and fell to the ground on his back. He ignored further instructions to get on his stomach and was tasered a third time.
A third officer who knew the man arrived, talked to him "softly" and handcuffed the man, who neither spoke nor resisted.
The man in this case was also Māori and described as a "gang member", both of which put him at higher risk of being tasered, according to the study.
Lead researcher Dr Catherine Leonard said prior to the rollout of tasers in 2010, there were many submissions warning they could be used disproportionately against Māori, Pasifika and those in mental distress.
"Some of those things have been realised over the years, and it's timely to have a look at the data and ask 'Is this how we want tasers to be used in our communities?"
Being Māori or a gang member put people at higher risk of being tasered. Photo: RNZ / Samuel White
Viable alternative 'years away'
The Mental Health Foundation was among organisations raising concerns at the time.
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said to see tasers being used at such high and increasingly high rates against some of the most vulnerable people in New Zealand society made him "sad and angry".
"What we have is an emergency response through the police to mental health and suicide issues that is totally not fit for purpose.
"And as a result, violence is being done to people who are not well."
Police currently attend about 80,000 mental crisis-related 111 call-outs a year.
Top brass have indicated to the government their intention to "transition" to a health-led response within five years.
However, the community was still waiting to see any detail about the plan - or how it was going to be staffed or funded, Robinson said.
"I'm sorry police minister, police commissioner and serving officers, but you are going to need to respond to mental health crises for a number of years.
"And given that, there's an urgent need to improve training for police in how to deal with someone who is in mental distress."
As someone who had experienced mental distress in his own life, Robinson said his heart went out to people who had been tasered and their families.
"I can only imagine what that would have done to my mental health while I was so vulnerable and just wanting help to then be shot with an electrocution device. It just beggars belief."
Yellow Brick Road chief executive John Moore. Photo: Supplied
'There's a lot of misunderstanding'
Yellow Brick Road chief executive John Moore said the threshold for getting help was "high and getting higher".
"And that's why you see police coming out and why you see ED overuse because it's the most reliable pathway most people perceive for getting mental health support.
"So you get people who get pretty much to breaking point and then the service kicks in and then it gets them past that breaking point so then they're released. And that cycle just continues for a lot of people."
His organisation supports families who have a loved one experiencing mental health challenges.
The ultimate solution was to stop people needing crisis intervention in the first place, by putting more resources into keeping them well, he said.
"Clinical services will do some risk management, diagnostic assessment and medication - but that's not the same as wellness. Wellness is not the absence of illness."
One woman with a history of mental illness told RNZ that police involvement had never been good for her mental state.
She has been restrained, handcuffed, forced into a patrol car and held in a cell.
"Having police come along, who by their nature are quite intimidating - uniform, handcuffs, taser - is quite scary when you're already quite frightened."
She acknowledged police as an organisation had done a lot of work to improve how they responded - but there was still work to be done.
"There's a lot of misunderstanding, they can be quite aggressive - basically being told you're a waste of time or that you're wasting their time, which I can understand when I'm well.
"If you want to be out solving crime, it's not really what you signed up for if you're going out to attend to someone who is acutely suicidal."
Health NZ's director of specialist mental health and addiction services Karla Bergquist said the agency and the Ministry of Health were continuing to work with police to review the way agencies responded to people in mental distress.
"The health and safety of patients, our staff and members of the public is at the forefront of this work.
"We will have more to say on this soon."
Following the release of the report, Superintendent Scott Gemmell told RNZ improvements had been made but there was "still a lot more to do".
He said police were committed to doing so.
"So that all of our communities in New Zealand can receive the same service, that they can have trust in us and that they can have confidence in the service that we can deliver."
Where to get help:
Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason.
Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357
Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO (24/7). This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.
Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 (24/7) or text 4202
Samaritans: 0800 726 666 (24/7)
Youthline: 0800 376 633 (24/7) or free text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz
What's Up: free counselling for 5 to 19 years old, online chat 11am-10.30pm 7days/week or free phone 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787 11am-11pm Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm or text 832 Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and English.
Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254
Healthline: 0800 611 116
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OUTLine: 0800 688 5463 (6pm-9pm)
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.