Here in Arizona, we have the case of Michelle Cusseaux, a mentally ill woman who was shot and killed on August 14 after police arrived to serve a mental-health order and take her to an inpatient facility. Cusseaux met the officers with a hammer and was shot dead.

azcentral.com

Ms. Cusseaux was African-American. I can’t say if this was a case of out-and-out racism, or more fear of the mentally ill. Certainly here in Arizona we have racism, but it’s usually directed towards Hispanics (and is just as disgusting as racism towards African-Americans.)

The Arizona Republic is asking questions such as, if police knew this was a mental health call, why they didn’t go into the situation prepared for that, instead of shooting to kill.

azcentral.com

Initially, the Phoenix PD planned an internal investigation of the shooting. Then it was handed over to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. However, this was unacceptable to the family. On August 22, they and others marched downtown with Ms. Cusseaux’s casket to protest this.

On August 25, the investigation was transferred to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com

My opinion? I don’t understand why Ms. Cusseaux had to be shot. If the police knew this was a mental health call, why didn’t they go in with less-than-lethal force?