Police brutality has not changed in years, but mental health crisis is getting worse, according to Logan police captain

By Spencer Burt

Nationwide police brutality is no more common now than it was years ago, but local mental health emergencies have increased significantly since last year, according to Capt. Tyson Budge of the Logan City Police Department.

"There's all sorts of sensationalism saying it's increasing and getting worse, but it isn't," Budge said regarding police brutality. "There's always going to be bad apples that make bad decisions."

Budge believes the media played a big role in the widespread belief that officer-involved shootings are increasing in number. "The use of force hasn't really changed much at all," he said. Instances of brutality have just become "more visible to the people's eye."

Budge said that although Logan hasn't had any issues with police brutality, this "sensationalism" has still affected the department's recruiting efforts.

"It's a difficult time," he said. "No one wants to be a policeman if you're going to do it and be hated."

He pointed out that someone is thousands of times more likely to die by going to the doctor's office than they are to have a violent interaction with police. 

"Doctors kill hundreds of thousands of people a year," he said, "and nobody seems to care."

Although Budge recognized that there are some issues with police training, "most of these shootings start by non-compliance," he said. "If you do what the policeman asks you to do, then you don't get shot."

Officer Kristian Johnson, a former attorney who decided to join law enforcement instead, said Logan is one of the least problematic police departments he's ever seen. He said Budge knows what he's doing, and that he is one of the reasons the community has a good relationship with the police.

Budge believes there are little to no "psychopath" officers who deliberately shoot innocent people with no remorse. "I think sometimes policemen just get scared," he said. "Scenarios happen so quickly and they choose poorly."

Budge said the mental health crisis, however, has become much worse in recent years.

"Something is definitely changing," he said. When he began his career with the department in the 1990s, Budge said there would be about four reports of mental health crises, suicides, or suicide attempts a month. Now he says there are at least four in one day. So far, there have been three times as many suicide attempts this year as there were last year at the same time.