Oregon lawmaker proposes voluntary database for law enforcement of those with mental illness

From The AP:

Barbara Thayer tucks a list into her teenage son's pocket whenever he leaves their Albany home, listing his name, her phone number, some personal information and the fact that her son deals with bipolar disorder.

It's a just-in-case sort of thing — just in case the 17-year-old were to get in trouble
with the law.

"My worry is that if he's not stable that he could be — " Thayer stops herself. There have been plenty of headlines in Oregon in recent years about mentally ill people killed in confrontations with police that make Thayer worry what could happen to her son.

"I said, 'Zac, promise me you will put this in your pocket and you will keep this in your pocket, so they will understand that you're not on drugs,' " Thayer said. "They will understand you just need to get home. You just need to get home."

In 2006, James Chasse Jr. was wrestled to the ground when Portland police mistakenly thought the 42-year-old schizophrenic was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Chasse passed in and out of consciousness as police took him to jail and then to the hospital. He died later that night.

Legislation sponsored by state Rep. Andy Olson, an Albany Republican, seeks to give people such as Thayer a little peace of mind.

His bill would require Oregon State Police to create a voluntary mental- health database that would help law- enforcement officials work with those who have mental illness and give them an immediate contact number.

As the legislation is written, individuals would have to give written consent to be included in the database, and officers would have to go through an hour of training to learn how to use it.

Olson, who once was a state trooper himself, calls the database "a fairly simple solution to a pretty big issue."

"I understand now, it would have been very handy to have this information available to me" when he was a trooper, he said.

Oregon State Police, for the record, are neutral on the proposal, though a spokesman did point out that funding for the bill is not included in the governor's budget.

Olson has been an advocate for this sort of database for a few years. He tried to pass similar legislation in 2007, but the bill failed.

No matter. During the interim, Olson set up his own task force. He was ready with a new bill when the 2009 Legislature convened.

"I would really like to see this one go through," he said.

Others, however, aren't so eager.

Meghan Caughey, the vice president of Mental Health America of Oregon, praises Olson when she talks about the proposed bill.

"I really believe that Rep. Olson is a very compassionate person," she said. "I think his intentions are very noble and good."

But the legislation itself troubles her. "I do have some very serious issues with this bill," Caughey said.

She's worried it will perpetuate discrimination against the mentally ill, and that people could be coerced into signing up.

"I know what it's like to be in trouble, be in crisis," Caughey said. She has schizophrenia and has been hospitalized more than 100 times.

"I think this bill would continue to ... make us apart from the general population," she said.