D.C. police have decided to overhaul how it responds to mentally ill residents in crisis and police brass have requested training assistance from the Department of Mental Health, says DMH director Stephen T. Baron.
The decision follows two police-shooting deaths in recent months involving mentally ill victims. In November, police shot and killed David Kerstetter in [...]

On the morning of November 6, two D.C. police officers responded to the home of David Kerstetter. The door to Mr. Kerstetter's condo had been been busted open. It looked suspicious. So the police were called. The officers were eventually confronted with a very simple scene: Mr. Kerstetter in his bedroom, allegedly holding a knife.
This [...]