EDITOR'S NOTE: This concludes a two-part series on the ongoing state investigation into the death of Jason Jones and potential legislative action related to local policing policies in New York. Read and view the first part here.

An ongoing investigation into the Taser-involved death of 29-year-old Jason Jones is giving rise to a conversation among state lawmakers about the proper emergency response protocols when an incident involves a person with a mental health issue or substance-use disorder. 

After almost 20 months, Jones' family doesn't understand why the attorney general's office hasn't completed its probe into his 2021 death after an encounter with Catskill Village police.

Mary Jo Snyder, Jones' biological mother, says mental health issues led her son to the Catskill Police station Oct. 30, 2021 in Greene County. Security footage publicly released by the AG's office shows Jones, who was unarmed, pacing around the station lobby for several minutes before removing his clothes and dousing himself with hand sanitizer in the presence of three officers. Minutes later, Catskill police officer Mark Nazi fired a stun gun at Jones, causing him to catch fire and sustain third-degree burns.

"He was agitated, but he wasn't hurting anyone — he didn't touch them," she recalled. "He shouldn't have ever been Tased in the first place."

Jones died 47 days later, prompting the state Attorney General's Office of Special Investigations to commence a probe into the incident as required by state law.

Snyder says Nazi had tased her son in a previous incident and should have known his mental health history.

"I know that Jason has been Tased in the past by the same cop, so I'm upset about that," Snyder said. "I think it was just the cop wanted to Tase him because he's Tased him in the past. Even though Jason is bigger than them, why didn't they tackle him? Jason's not a rough person. He's like a gentle giant. I don't know, what was going through the cop's head."

Snyder had Jones when she was 17. He was adopted at age 3 and grew up in Catskill.

" ...If they see someone in a mental health crisis, they should actually call someone, you know, or have someone help them out — not do what they did to my son," she added.

John Driscoll, a former law professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former New York Police Department captain of 34 years, said Tuesday he sees why the state Attorney General's Office has not reached a clear decision in its ongoing investigation. 

He noted the released surveillance video lacks audio and parts of the incident took place off-camera, which Driscoll says has likely delayed any decision about criminal charges against the officers involved.

"Do we have enough? Did this reach the level of criminality or was this just a mistake? And I think that's what they're wrestling with," he said.

Driscoll also recounted reports the encounter with police started while responding to a preceding disturbance at a nearby bar in the village.

"You could see that he was unsteady on his feet," Driscoll said, adding the influence of alcohol or drugs is unclear from the footage.

After Jones caught fire, the security video shows three officers run away instead of assist him, including two behind a closed door farther into the station.

Driscoll was surprised one of the men did not return with something to extinguish the flames. Jones, he added, appeared to reach out his arms seeking help and comfort.

"He then was approaching the officers looking like he just wanted to be comforted — he's looking to hold them," Driscoll said.

A civilian eyewitness on the street entered the station to help minutes later. Driscoll said it appears Jones was visibly more comfortable and felt less threatened by the presence of the other person.

"He's very non-threatening because he doesn't have a uniform on, doesn't have a gun," he continued. "[Jones] was looking to hold somebody, and he held him. And then the situation calmed down."

Driscoll expects officers in a large, well-funded department like the NYPD to have better training on when to use a Taser and de-escalation techniques to calm a person in emotional distress.

But small departments like Catskill often have less training, oversight and funding.

A 2020 executive order declared by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo mandated all police departments across the state revisit their policing and use-of-force policies together with municipal leaders. All departments submitted a plan to the state as required under the order, or they risked jeopardizing losing state funding.

Elliott Matos was a member of the village's Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative. The group submitted its final revised policing strategies to the state in March 2021, just ahead of the April 1 deadline.

"It wasn't successful in all communities," Matos said. "In a lot of communities, Cuomo's mandate was very successful. But for our community, which is small and institutionalized, it wasn't that much of a success."

The executive order did not include a requirement to implement the police reform plans or other related penalty — only mandating submission to the state.

The last time a member of the department used a Taser was November 2019, according to the village's final police reform plan. No reports existed in the previous decade of a Catskill police officer injuring another person, according to the group's work. The department had previously banned no-knock warrants, the use of "stop and frisk" and choke holds, according to the report.

The committee recommended the Catskill Village Board of Trustees develop a plan for a 24-hour on-call mental health services with the Greene County Mental Health Department. Board members rejected the idea, Matos said. The incident with Jones took place later that year.

They also recommended more training for Catskill officers to improve their communication tactics — especially with people with a mental illness — and additional diversity and inclusion training for members of the department.

Several other members who participated in the collaborative declined to be interviewed.

Then-Catskill Village Police Chief Dave Darling resigned months after Jones' death. The Catskill Village Police department has secured a new chief and has purchased new equipment including body cameras to improve policing strategies since the incident. Updates were also made to the department's use-of-force policies.

Officials with Catskill police and the state Attorney General's Office declined to comment, citing the pending investigation and litigation.

Jones' family, Driscoll and all stakeholders involved agree state lawmakers must do work to give police clearer guidelines when responding to an incident involving a mental health crisis or substance-use disorder.

"There should be someone associated with mental health [with police departments] in case something like this happens again," Snyder said. "Jason is not the only one that's been in that police station that's had mental issues and episodes."

Legislation proposed this session known as Daniel's Law, named after Daniel Prude who died in Rochester Police custody in 2020, would require mental health workers respond with law enforcement. It did not pass this session, but funding was included in the latest state budget to create a 10-person panel to address these issues.

The ongoing case could help inform legislative conversations about the proper emergency response when problems arise from mental health issues or substance use.

"There's more that we can do to prevent incidents, I think from happening in the first place, including violence against civilians and police misconduct," Senate Crime and Correction Committee chair Julia Salazar said. "And there definitely is more that that should be done at the local level. ...It really is a systemic issue that I think requires some systemic solutions."

"We, as a state, need to prioritize, addressing and investigating these situations quickly," added the senator, a Brooklyn Democrat.

The state Municipal Police Training Council updated its use-of-force policy in September 2020 in response to the death of George Floyd, who was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer. The council sends a letter notifying police departments around the state of the changes, but training of all law enforcement officers statewide varies by department leadership and resources.

The council, under the auspices of the state Department of Criminal Justice Services, does not check or enforce departments the efficacy or efficiency in which departments train members about updated policies.