The officer-involved shooting of Victoria Lee, who was in the throes of a mental crisis at the time, is prompting a change in protocol for New Jersey police.
The new directive, issued on Thursday by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, specifically focuses on how police will deal with situations involving barricaded individuals, many of who are often in the midst of some sort of mental episode.
Officers will now be required to wait for specialized resources, like mental health professionals and crisis negotiations teams, rather than “force a resolution, unless that would be immediately necessary to prevent injury or death,” according to a statement from Platkin’s office. It also demands that an on-duty supervisor respond in such situations and that tactical teams be equipped with “less lethal” weapons, such as Tasers.
Responding authorities will also be allowed to consider a “tactical disengagement strategy”, which means they can “leave, delay contact, delay custody or planning to make contact at a different time and under different circumstances.”
Platkin said the new guidelines are aimed at providing “first-responders with the tools to slow and stabilize these standoffs, empowering officers to navigate the dangerous first minutes of these encounters, so proper resources can be deployed to intervene and resolve the situations safely without force, significant injuries, or death.”
The changes come almost a month after 25-year-old Lee, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, was fatally shot by a police officer inside her apartment in Fort Lee.
Authorities were called to the Pinnacle apartment complex on July 28 by her brother, Chris, who told dispatches Lee was experiencing a “mental episode” and needed to be taken to the hospital. When he learned an officer would be responding with the ambulance, he asked to cancel his request for help, but he was informed that authorities must follow through on all mental health calls.
Chris phoned 911 again a short time later, this time to alert them that Lee had a small knife. He emphasized that she was only holding it, and that she was not threatening anyone, according to the audio from the 911 call.
Courtesy of Lee Family
Victoria Lee was fatally shot by a police officer on July 28. (Courtesy of Lee Family)
A lone officer arrived around 1:30 a.m. and spoke with Lee’s brother outside. When he tried to open the door to the apartment, he was met by two people — Lee and her mother — who told him not to enter. The officer waited for backup before he tried again, but the women continued to refuse them entry, so police eventually “breached the door,” Platkin said at the time.
As Lee approached police, Officer Tony Pickens Jr. fired off a single shot, striking her in the chest. She was rushed to Englewood Hospital, where she died a short time later, officials said.
Bodycam footage shows her clutching a water bottle at the time, but it is unclear if she was armed. Police said they recovered a knife, which family said Lee dropped well before police forced their way inside.
