Mentally Ill in US 16 Times More Likely to Be Killed by Police - Report

People with untreated mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed during encounters with police than other civilians, according to report by the Treatment Advocacy Center.

NEW YORK (Sputnik) — The report urges US lawmakers to reduce loss of life by restoring the mental health system to allow for more mentally ill individuals to remain in care.

"Numbering fewer than 1 in 50 US adults, individuals with untreated severe mental illness are involved in at least 1 in 4 and as many as half of all fatal police shootings," the report, released on Thursday, stated.

Moreover, the report also calls for increased funding for the federal government to track and report incidents involving the use of deadly force as well as fatal shootings involving mentally ill individuals.

"It should horrify, but not surprise us that people with untreated mental illness are overrepresented in deadly encounters with law enforcement," study co-author John Snook said in a statement.

Snook explained that individuals with untreated mental illness are vastly overrepresented in every corner of the criminal justice system.

"Until we reform the public policies that have abandoned them there, these tragic outcomes will continue," he added.

About one in four adults, or approximately 61.5 million Americans, experience a mental illness in a given year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. In 2013, approximately 60 percent of adults with a mental illness received no mental health services.