Wednesday, April 02, 2014

Police and the Mentally Ill

The police shooting and death of a mentally ill homeless man in Albuquerque has again raised the issue of police interaction with the mentally ill.  Many agencies have expanded and updated their training.  This is one of the most difficult aspects of police work as no one expects police to subject themselves to unreasonable dangers. After the fact, it is always easy to say that the police should have done this or that. See this excellent article from the NYT on the topic.
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3 comments:

  1. 44April 2, 2014 at 4:44 PM

    This is tough. I've had my own dealings with mental health challenges while working on hospital wards and in clinics. The foremost objective is to safeguard others and yourself from injury. Next is an attempt to calmly defuse the situation. This is followed by physical and/or chemical restraint, with the goal of not harming the disturbed individual.

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  2. 44April 4, 2014 at 3:35 PM

    Given the recent mayhem and murders at Fort Hood, there are times drastic action must be taken. When facing a real threat of bodily harm, police and armed citizen alike are forced to end it.

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  3. UnknownApril 5, 2014 at 12:39 PM

    44: Thanks, agreed.

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