BART Officers In SF Shooting Had No Mental Health Training
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – The two Bay Area Rapid Transit police officers involved in a fatal shooting earlier this month at the Civic Center station in San Francisco have yet to receive training in dealing with the mentally ill.
BART is giving its police officers training on mental health issues just as police field officers receive.
But the officers who said they were attacked by 45-year-old Charles Hill at the Civic Center station on July 3rd, had not yet been trained. Hill, a homeless man, was likely suffering from mental health issues, according to authorities.
KCBS' Bob Melrose Reports:
Anne Weills, an Oakland attorney, said at this week's BART Police oversight committee that if the officers had been trained, it might have been different.
"This man did not have to die. This man was mentally disabled, and lived in a homeless shelter in San Francisco," said Weills.
It may take years to train all of San Francisco's police officers in dealing with people suffering from mental health issues.
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