Alaska’s mental health crisis and its harder impact on minorities Author: Valerie Van Brocklin Share on Facebook Print article The University of Alaska’s Justice Information Center recently released a report on police use of deadly force in Alaska from 2010 to 2020. Among the findings were: • More than two-thirds of the incidents involved a person with signs of mental illness with one-third expressing some suicidal intent. • While more than half of the incidents involved white people, American Indians or Alaska Natives (AI/AN) and Black people were involved almost double their percentage in Alaska’s population. This should come as no surprise. The ADN has been reporting about the state’s mental health crisis for years – citing organizational failures, and tight budgets. Community mental health services have been declining for two decades. That contributed to overburdening the Alaska Psychiatric Institute, which also experienced headline making downfalls – including almost losing accreditation and operating at partial capacity.