Letter to the editor: Culturally competent mental health, emergency services

On Tuesday, the Justice for Christian Hall coalition and Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance will host a press conference to introduce an Allegheny County Council resolution honoring the life of Christian Hall. This resolution highlights the need for culturally competent mental health and emergency services in Pennsylvania. A similar bill in honor of Hall was passed unanimously by Philadelphia City Council in May, urging funding for 988, a hot line alternative to 911. The year 2024 alone has seen another three Asian-Americans, Win Rosario, Yong Yang and Victoria Lee, lose their lives to police after they or their families called 911.

On Dec. 30, 2020, Hall, a 19-year-old Chinese- American adoptee, called 911 during a mental health crisis in Stroudsburg. State police arrived, speaking to him for 90 minutes, refusing services from a nearby social worker and concluding by taking Hall’s life. Months after Monroe County District Attorney Mike Mancuso ignored calls from the family, social media footage from the highway circulated widely of Hall holding his hands up before being shot, prompting public questioning. Mancuso and his colleagues later held a conference with heavily edited footage, claiming Hall attacked the police in the final moments. Nearly a year later after the incident, the Hall family obtained a state-level subpoena to get unedited footage, which revealed not only did Hall try to comply with officers, he was standing still with hands raised for 14 seconds before eight shots were fired. Mancuso remains district attorney. An independent investigation has yet to be held.

Robert Chung

Millvale