Like it or not, the police do make "split-second" decisions on the street when working with the mentally ill. I know, I've worked with the mentally ill when I was a social worker in NYC and as a doctoral level psychologist. I've also worked with police departments. The police have to make split-second decisions and, unfortunately, the ones we only seem to hear about are the bad ones. The police, however, do not make the final decision about whether someone is "more deserving of having the police apprehend her/him, providing lock-up, drug treatment, and the life-long disability which sometimes ensues." That's the "system" of the courts, the health department, community intervention services, social workers, probation agents, doctors, lawyers, public defenders, prosecutors, etc, etc, etc.
To make this a MPLS issue, look at the case of the Somali man a couple of years ago. Completely justified in every way, the police in that matter couldn't win for losing (no thanks to Mr. Jamal, but he'll be making less of a ruckus in MPLS from here on out, I suspect). Anyway, the machete the young Somali man was carrying was no less lethal and menacing just because it was carried by a mentally ill man. They were forced to act and use lethal force. It's too bad, but what else are the cops to do? The MPD has an excellent mental health intervention program for their officers--- meaning their officers are very well trained in working with the mentally ill on the streets compared to many other big city police departments. As for treatment issues, that's another thread on another board. Michael Thompson Southwest Minneapolis ----- Original Message ----- From: "Louise Bouta" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 10:25 AM Subject: [Mpls] Priorities > This is in answer to the post on January 26th titled "Priorities" > wondering about "the Mpls program to train and better deal with people > who have mental problems." > > Sorry, I was out of commission for a while due to my sensitivity to > toxic materials in cleaning products and air freshener -- not in MY > home, certainly. > > My take on it is that the program is ill-begotten in the first place. > The police should not be given the job of being judge and jury in > split-second timing to decide whether the person calling the police or > the person being called about is more deserving of having the police > apprehend her/him, providing lock-up, drug treatment, and the life-long > disability which sometimes ensues. > > Many times, these are inter-family squabbles. The police cannot be > expected to know, in a few minutes, which is the aggressor and which > the aggressee, i.e. which is being unreasonable, trying to run > another's life, and whether the other is justified in running away from > that. > > Another concern is whether the police would be cooperating to bring > harm to someone. > > A better way, and far cheaper, would be to allow the people brought > into the system to have their choice of treatment. More than half of > the US population uses holistic health cares integrated with modern > medicine. We should allow people accused of being “mentally ill” to > see health practitioners of their choice, have thorough health > examinations, and treatment of their choice for whatever health > challenge is found. This would save untold trillions of dollars. > > The Quakers in the 1870s had a 70 percent success rate in treating > people who had mental disorders. They used kindness. Various treatment > centers have the same luck now but they are private-pay — not available > for people who must use Medical Assistance. See www.hriptc.org and > www.AlternativeMentalHealth.com Other sites are available. > Louise Bouta > Kingfield > Well Mind Association of Minnesota > 4003 Pillsbury Avenue > Minneapolis, MN 55409 > 612-823-8249 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > www.wellmindminnesota.orgREMINDERS: > 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. > > 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. > > For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html > For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] > Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls > > REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
