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bowman81 · M
How would you train them? Dr's and mental health professionals used to keep the violently mentally ill drugged to a near comatose state, locked in restraints and behind thick doors before well meaning people decided it was cruel and put them out on the streets. They thought it best that they were treated at home, except they didn't think about who would keep them on meds. What home is equipped to deal with them? So they stopped funding of mental institutions, closed them down and smiled feeling good about what a kind thing they had done.
Dr's and mental health professionals with many years of training were and are at a loss for how to handle the violently mentally ill...short of locking them away and sedating them. They tried all sorts of "therapies" from electro shock to lobotomy. They all failed.
So now you are not satisfied with how the police handle such situations. Would you suggest the officers be psychiatrists, or phycologists as a requirement? Would be nice.....would you pay for that training, and the wages they would demand and deserve?
It seems to me it is another case of "let George do it" and then carping because you don't like the way it works out. As far as I know nobody has a good answer for handling the mentally ill....and that includes the mental health professionals. The police are the last resort....struggling to keep the peace with individuals who have been neglected/abused/mistreated/ and in need of help for their whole lives....and during that few minutes when the mentally ill person is acting out in a bizarre violent manner the officer is to magically make all this right and calmly diffuse the situation. It is a wonder to me that things usually work out as well as they do.
What training, at what cost, without putting either the officers or the public at risk? The problem of mental illness goes far beyond the scope of the police.
Dr's and mental health professionals with many years of training were and are at a loss for how to handle the violently mentally ill...short of locking them away and sedating them. They tried all sorts of "therapies" from electro shock to lobotomy. They all failed.
So now you are not satisfied with how the police handle such situations. Would you suggest the officers be psychiatrists, or phycologists as a requirement? Would be nice.....would you pay for that training, and the wages they would demand and deserve?
It seems to me it is another case of "let George do it" and then carping because you don't like the way it works out. As far as I know nobody has a good answer for handling the mentally ill....and that includes the mental health professionals. The police are the last resort....struggling to keep the peace with individuals who have been neglected/abused/mistreated/ and in need of help for their whole lives....and during that few minutes when the mentally ill person is acting out in a bizarre violent manner the officer is to magically make all this right and calmly diffuse the situation. It is a wonder to me that things usually work out as well as they do.
What training, at what cost, without putting either the officers or the public at risk? The problem of mental illness goes far beyond the scope of the police.
Kembe · 36-40, M
@bowman81 No ones asking for these officers to be certified psychiatrists, we're talking handling citizens that they are supposed to protect and serve. And just so you know there are known ways of de-escalating these situations without the use of lethal force or harm for that matter. Its just that more half states for the last 2 years have neglected to implement this training. And also while we're at it do you know the "cost" taxpayers have to pay for all these brutalities and wrongful deaths caused by officers who can't handle a situation? Its in the fucking millions, over $250 fucking million. So tell me which is better, tax dollars going towards training that could prevent needless deaths which in turn where tax payer money or paying of those legal fees because somebody didn't know how to handle a situation without needlessly killing someone?