I'm glad that increased training has been promised. If this occurs, it
will be a positive step. I wish that there was some sort of intermediate
accountability here short of criminal prosecution. If one of us were to
cause someone's death with our car, for example, we would have consequences
for that, at the very least increased insurance rates, even if we couldn't
be indicted for a crime.
In our jobs, most of us tend to do the things that our management
encourages us to do and avoid the things that management discourages. We
who see the police department from the outside get little indication that
officers are encouraged to resolve situations peacefully and discouraged
from killing our neighbors. Although the new training does seem like a
step in the right direction.
Also in the Strib article, police spokeswoman Cindi Montgomery said, "The
loss of any life is a tragedy for everyone involved -- in this case Barbara
Schneider, her family and the officers." Maybe we are supposed to
understand this as meaning, "We don't want to kill you. We don't even want
to kill your mentally unstable friends or neighbors." If this is really
what they mean, I wish would say it explicitly.
Rosalind Nelson
Bancroft
At 07:11 AM 2/22/01 -0800, Carol Becker wrote:
>The Police Chief has said that he is going to increase training for officers
>around the issues of mental health. The Mayor has also mentioned this need
>in her literature.
>
>Carol Becker
>Longfellow
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Rosalind Nelson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2001 8:31 PM
>Subject: Re: [Mpls] grand jury
>
>
>> It's too bad that the only question city officials and police management
>> will ask about Barbara Schneider's death is whether it meets the criteria
>> for a criminal indictment. We should not have to live with the
>possibility
>> of such a thing happening again. People who need help in dealing with a
>> mentally ill friend or relation should be able to call 911 without fearing
>> for the person's life.
>>
>> >From the Strib article: "Her brother Jim Schneider has said that she
>> clearly needed help, and that to shoot her was not only unjustified, it
>was
>> 'outrageous.'"
>>
>> Rosalind Nelson
>> Bancroft
_______________________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy
Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more:
http://e-democracy.org/mpls
