Well, it's both a city and county issue. In Minnesota, counties serve as the delivery agents for social and human services; thus Hennepin (and Ramsey) are under a mandate to address the housing and other services required for mentally ill patients, often through contracted services with private agencies specializing in such services.
However, at the city level, the only real monitor of mentally ill behavior is the local law enforcement community. The twain rarely meets, and, until mental health workers and policymakers in both jurisdictions start understanding that these completely unnecessary deaths at the hands of intellectually bereft and emotionally numb police officers who react like Pavlov's dog instead of creatively when confronted with what can only be mentally ill behavior, mental illness will still be punish with death and dismemberment instead of wisdom and care. The clue is in the police federation's labeling of Martha Donald as a murderer. The mind of a police officer is of another world: all is black or white, good or evil and never mind the nuance which constitutes 99% of our lives. Once arrested and/or convicted, officers paint you dirty from that day forward, and all the mitigating circumstances in the world will never change that mind. Even if the courts and other senior people in the system find otherwise, the officers will have tattooed on their brain that the evil ones must be struck down with impunity. I've yet to have a conversation with a police officer that didn't betray that very state of mind regarding "criminal" behavior. For this reason, they lie in wait for the opportunity to arrest - kill, if necessary - men and women who have served time or been shoved through the justice system one way or another. The corrections system feels the same way. Rehabilitation is NOT an option in their eyes, believing as they do that it is only a matter of time before offenders return to their loving care (if they're still alive at the end). The story of this trait has been replayed time and again on our television and film screens as well. But it has its beginnings in the unforgiving ages - medieval and Victorian. No more illustrative an example has been written than that of Victor Hugo's remarkable 1862 commentary, Les Mis�rables, in which a petty piece of thievery (a loaf of bread) begins an obsessive odyssey for the cop, Jauvert (zho-VAIR), as he hunts down Jean Valjean (val-zhon) for the rest of the latter's natural life on the premise that Valjean should ever be reconciled to normal life because he dared steal food and to view the act as minor. The entire journey, made into films and musicals, is the height of law enforcement 's merciless view of humanity and its flaws. It renders the reader/audience aghast at the utter inhumanity of Jauvert and his crusade to put Valjean in chains for the rest of his life. if you ever break the law, you're doomed, lost to the underworld. How prescient was Hugo's perception of the other worldliness of law enforcement and its detachment from most of the rest of humanity. He would not be at all surprised to see such similar views in today's world. Andy Driscoll Saint Paul ------ "These things will destroy the human race: politics without principle; progress without compassion; wealth without work; learning without silence; religion without fearlessness and worship without awareness." -- Anthony de Mello > From: "Barbara L. Nelson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [Mpls] Mental Illness (this is a city issue) > > Have to second (or is it third) this posting. Mental illness is a city issue, > and not only among the homeless. Awareness of mental illness is a huge > problem, as evidenced in the police behavior over the past year, but also in > many of our daily lives. Folks just don't know how to recognize it and/or > deal with it. > > So many people think that the only ones mentally ill are those who are raving, > talking crazy, seeing things and hearing voices. Mental illness does include > those symptoms, but delusions can be very subtle too: as with most things, > there's a continuum of severity. Talking about and doing something about > mental illness seems to be the last great taboo in our society. In my opinion > this is because the line between mental illness and sanity can be pretty faint > and thus, it is precarious emotional ground.. For me, it helps to think > "cognitive impairment" rather than mental illness. I think it gives a much > better picture. > > Wellstone sponsored a bill that makes mental illness coverage equal to other > insurance coverage for the first time. All well and good, but what of the > working poor and homeless in our city -- without health benefits? Is this a > city government issue, or a county issue or is it split between city and > county (city covers housing, county covers social services)? Whoever is in > charge, they aren't doing the job that needs to be done, and because of it > there are more tragedies on our streets than necessary. Barbara Nelson Once > and future Minneapolitan presently living in Burnsville _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
