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Victoria Lee's death in Fort Lee exposes police mental health protocols

3 minutes reading time

USA TODAY Network New Jersey Editorial Team
| NorthJersey.com

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Thirty-three seconds.

It took a group of Fort Lee police officers just 33 seconds to decide to break down an apartment door. They then agreed on who would potentially use “lethal” and “less lethal” measures. They then broke down the door and one of them, Officer Tony Pickens Jr., shot and killed 25-year-old Victoria Lee.

County police arrived at Lee's residence at the Pinnacle on Main Street around 1:25 a.m. on July 28. They were responding to a 911 call made by Lee's brother because he feared she was suffering a mental health crisis.

In an audio recording released Friday by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin's office, Lee's brother called 911 twice – once in the hope that an ambulance and paramedics could help his sister, and then again to cancel the call.

Dispatchers initially told him that police officers were accompanying the emergency responders for their safety. When he called back to cancel his call for help, he was told that calls could not be canceled due to mental health issues. On the second call, Lee's brother tells the dispatcher that his sister was holding a knife.

Victoria Lee's death captured in disturbing bodycam video

Along with the audio, body camera footage of the fatal incident was also released – presumably captured by Pickens' recording device. The scene, part of which was published by NorthJersey.com, is disturbing.

Lee's brother stands with the group of police officers in front of the apartment door and begs his sister – who is in the apartment with her mother – to open the door. A police officer reinforces this request and threatens to break down the door.

“Go on, I’ll stab you in the damn neck,” one of the women replies.

“We don’t want to shoot you, we want to help you,” one of the officers replies.

Lee is led away from the apartment door while officers decide who will take “lethal” or “less lethal” measures.

Regard: State releases bodycam footage of police officer who shot woman in Fort Lee

Pickens takes the lead in breaking down the door and after he succeeds, Lee is seen holding a jug of water and standing next to her mother.

“Drop the knife,” the officers shout.

Lee moves forward with the water jug ​​in her hand. Pickens fires. She falls.

The consequences are immediately clear and devastating for everyone.

Lee was shot in the chest and officers rushed to her aid. She was taken to Englewood Hospital and pronounced dead at 1:58 a.m.

Can New Jersey tolerate another police-involved shooting of a person in distress? No.

The shooting death of Victoria Lee by a police officer in Fort Lee once again raises significant questions about how and why police use deadly force when called to help people experiencing mental health crises.

In the weeks since her death, the Fort Lee community has struggled to find answers to those questions – even as Platkin's office investigates the case, as it always does with police-involved shootings.

On Thursday, community members gathered for a rally at the Jack Alter Fort Lee Community Center, where 5-gallon water jugs – like the one Lee was holding when she was shot – were prominently displayed.

“What happened to Victoria was wrong, unacceptable and unjust in every way,” said Elise Tao, co-director of Bergen County Students Demand Action. “A moment of crisis should be met with compassion and de-escalation, not deadly force. So tell me, why is this so hard to understand?”

Tear down: Fort Lee Police Bodycam Footage of Shootings Analyzed Minute by Minute

Why is this so difficult to understand, Mr Attorney General?

Why do we need to ask these questions again?

Back to Najee Seabrooks. Back to Jameek Lowery. Back to Andrew Washington. Back to Major Gulia Dale. And now to Victoria Lee.

Why can't we more quickly find new and smarter ways for New Jersey police to respond to cries for help from the mentally ill?

Should police be involved in responding to mental health crises? How can they do so without using deadly force?

Some solutions to the problems raised in these questions may be found in more quickly deploying the resources allocated to Platkin's office by the Seabrooks-Washington Community-Led Crisis Response Act, which Gov. Phil Murphy signed in January. Among other things, the law funds pilot projects for community-led crisis response teams. These pilot projects are currently underway in four of our cities: Paterson, Newark, Trenton and Camden. Funding is also earmarked for programs in Jersey and City and Middlesex County, but as of last month, no partner nonprofit agencies in those communities had come forward to lead efforts to establish crisis response teams.

The Seabrooks-Washington Act also created an advisory council that was to meet 45 days after Murphy signed the bill on Jan. 12. As of last month, Gov. Phil Murphy had not appointed any nominees to the council, and the council had yet to meet. The Murphy administration should work to quickly establish that council.

ARRIVE Together, the Attorney General's program that trains plainclothes police officers in crisis intervention, also deserves new and expanded attention. According to a Brookings Institution study that tracked pilot programs in Cumberland County, Elizabeth and Linden between 2021 and 2023, ARRIVE Together showed commendable results in reducing use of force, arrests and racial disparities in policing and increasing use of social services. Lawmakers in Trenton should work to fund the expansion of this program.

Mr. Attorney General, we have requested and welcomed your necessary takeover of the Paterson Police Department. This effort is not yet complete, but deserves credit in many ways – including its speed.

Here, too, speed is required.

The death of Victoria Lee makes one thing clear: New Jersey cannot and should not tolerate any more people with mental health issues being shot by the police.

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