with all the police bashing lately

[Deleted]

Here's  an article where the police help a guy out.

[Shooby]

I don't see anything.

[billisonboard]

The man was drunk and alone in a house.  Why did anyone have to go in/stay in the house? There was no need for immediate confrontation in this case. If the report that he was on the bed when shot, the police could have easily backed out. A mental health professional could have stayed a safe distance away using a bullhorn or even called from a different state. 

[billisonboard]

May 29, 2015 9:27:51 GMT -5 @sroo4 said:

Nope,   I think we should just avoid any police officer having to make decisions they are not trained to do, they are not mental health professionals.  They should stand perimeter while the real mental health professionals go in alone (as not to upset the person any further) and deal with the situation.   

The police should not enter the situation at all.   

The police should have done a quick recon of the house to ensure the person was alone and then withdrawn. As you indicate, they are not trained to deal with the mentally ill. Then they should have stood perimeter while mental health professionals determined the best course of action.

[djAdvocate]

nobody thinks that there are NO good cops.  but the good cops are not the problem, hinkle.

[mmhmm]

May 29, 2015 10:50:49 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

nobody thinks that there are NO good cops.  but the good cops are not the problem, hinkle.

That is so true! I came to know a lot of the police while working as nursing supervisor at the hospital. We're not a big city, just a smallish one in a smallish southern state. Still, our cops were always polite and helpful when called to our facility at a time of need. They were great with us and as good as they could be to those who were bent on causing trouble. In 15 years I met only one I'd say needed to be doing something else and he was quickly handled by his peers. While the wrong-doing of our LEOs is what comes to the fore in the media, it's not the rule - at least, it's certainly not in my experience.

I'm glad @hickle brought this story to our attention. Perhaps, if all of us made more effort to showcase the good done by our law enforcement rather than concentrating on the sensational, there would be a lot less denigration of those who choose police work as their career. 

[billisonboard]

May 29, 2015 11:00:25 GMT -5 mmhmm said:

...

I'm glad @hickle brought this story to our attention. Perhaps, if all of us made more effort to showcase the good done by our law enforcement rather than concentrating on the sensational, there would be a lot less denigration of those who choose police work as their career. 

I wonder if you were taken to a different story than I was taken by the link in the OP.

[mmhmm]

May 29, 2015 11:09:33 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

May 29, 2015 11:00:25 GMT -5 mmhmm said:

...

I'm glad @hickle brought this story to our attention. Perhaps, if all of us made more effort to showcase the good done by our law enforcement rather than concentrating on the sensational, there would be a lot less denigration of those who choose police work as their career. 

I wonder if you were taken to a different story than I was taken by the link in the OP.

Oh, gosh! Thanks for the heads up! I just read that link again. I'd read it earlier but didn't respond to it.  I seem to have forgotten what I read, or mixed it up with something else I read because of the title of the thread. Definitely my bad!

Doesn't change my opinion, however. There are more good cops doing good things, in my experience, than there are bad cops doing bad things.

[Shooby]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3102260/Desperate-Florida-woman-asks-police-help-suicidal-boyfriend-tell-leave-room-shoot-dead.html

woman called the police to ask for help with her suicidal boyfriend and they arrived armed with assault rifles, asked her to wait outside and then shot him dead.

Justin Way, 28, was a recovering alcoholic who relapsed after losing his job and when he threatened to harm himself, his partner Kaitlyn Lyons called for a non-emergency police number - hoping that he would be hospitalized.

In her panicked call, Ms Lyons asked an operator 'what do I do and who do I call?' before adding 'he recently lost his job... he's also been drinking'


Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3102260/Desperate-Florida-woman-asks-police-help-suicidal-boyfriend-tell-leave-room-shoot-dead.html#ixzz3bYzpkeZI
Follow us: @mailonline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[Shooby]

OK, sorry. Didn't see it.

[chiver78]

I'll ask another mod to merge. I don't know how to do that from the app.

-chiver mod

sent from my electronic distraction

[Shooby]

Can they just delete this or merge it?

[mmhmm]

I'll merge this into the previously started thread.

[mmhmm]

I think we were working on it at the same time, Sugi. It's merged, so all's well.

[Robert not Bobby]

Personally, I think at least 85% of police are in it for the right reasons and do the best they can, according to their best moral lights. There will always be rogues, cops who step over the line.

But I'm more inclined to thank them, then condemn them.

Remember. these incidence are all case specific, and should be judged on their own merits, not by public or media outcry.

[billisonboard]

May 29, 2015 17:55:14 GMT -5 @sroo4 said:

May 29, 2015 16:15:27 GMT -5 @anne81 said:

Police using violence against mentally ill people had been a huge issue in the PDX area. After a lot of publicity and some court cess they've improved their education and responses. It's one of the reasons that I think people should pay attention when people of color are harmed by police. There is a lot of the same issues involved.

That's why I vote the police don't get involved with mentally ill people and let the mental health professionals do it.  Surely the MHPs will be better equipped, right?

Police will get involved with mental ill people just as they get involved with any other citizen. They need to be better trained on how to deal with them and when to back away and let others step in.

[billisonboard]

May 29, 2015 18:08:08 GMT -5 @sroo4 said:

But if it's a known mentally ill person doesn't it make sense to let the experts step in?

As quickly as appropriate in a given situation. Rarely are things quite that black and white in the beginning. Police are by design of our system first responders.

[billisonboard]

May 29, 2015 18:20:08 GMT -5 @sroo4 said:

May 29, 2015 18:15:43 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

As quickly as appropriate in a given situation. Rarely are things quite that black and white in the beginning. Police are by design of our system first responders.

And I'm saying it's appropriate from the beginning.  Would we not have had different circumstances in the cited news story if the police hadn't responded?

Any change could result in a different outcome. I support initial police assessment.