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A regional response with armored vehicles and SWAT does seem a bit over the top in this situation. No hostages were involved and the kid had taken no violent action. There was no crime. Just a distraught kid having a meltdown. For all he knew the police were going to assault the house a d if they didn't kill him he was going to prison. He had nothing left to lose. His whole world just grenaded. And a police assault team was poised to move on him.
Seems he figured he was going to die or spend the rest of his life in a cage. When someone figures they have nothing left to lose, choices become simple. He chose to check out on his own terms. Pretty sad. And then the assault troops just bug out and say situation resolved. I have a hard time with people saying "bye bye junior" and shrugging this off as a good riddance case. Seems a bit reptilian.
As a parent, I have to put myself in his Mom and Dad's shoes. Wonder how I would react if my son were to have a meltdown like this. Then watching a police assault team turn my home with my son inside into Kandahar and spout off at me about procedure. Truly sad.
But there is no threat when someone is home alone. In this case, any threat was created by the police deciding to be the aggressors.
Exactly, imagine a tank coming up your back steps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unsettomati
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'
--Ronald Reagan
I've noticed that the same crowd that idolizes Ronald Reagan and fully embraces his idea that government is bad is the same crowd that, so long as the government comes in uniform and bearing weaponry, will make excuses for whatever those uniformed and armed government agents do, no matter how many of the citizenry they gun down.
Really? Ever hear of the Reagan Democrats? Probably not.
I know plenty of people who are middle of the road to conservative who have noticed and commented on how there has been a shift with the police and not a good one.
BTW it was under Obama that the police have gotten so miltarized. It's ridiculous some of the equipment these police forces now have and what they cart it out for.
This is a perfect example. It's becoming very Orwellian. And that impacts everyone, doesn't matter how you lean politically.
What a horrible story. I wonder, in the final analysis, what usually works best in this situation?
NOT calling the cops.
Delete the Speed dial to "911" from your phone.
Fortunately, for a humorous reason (my cat pressed the speed dial to the police on two occasions [it was the top button, nearest her paw]), I deleted the 911 speed dial feature from my phones many years ago.
Learn how to contact the fire department directly in an emergency or if you have to dial "911" (which we all have memorized anyway), yell "FIRE, send the FIREFIGHTERS", or if you need an ambulance, just say "HEART ATTACK" or "STROKE", "AMBULANCE NEEDED." If you can contact an ambulance/paramedics directly, do that, if driving someone to an extremely close trauma hospital is not feasible.
(You do know how to administer hands-only CPR, I hope. You can watch on YouTube as well as take a class. And buy an AED and learn how to use it.)
I used to trust all police officers until recent incidents, like watching a cop unloading a gun magazine into a man running away from him, and similar situations have demonstrated that the police forces of today are not the kind cops of my childhood. Some officers may be good people, and some are just thugs, and I don't want to have to try to decide which is which in a tense situation.
Some police do receive training in mental health issues. In Austin, TX they have a CIT--Crisis Intervention Team--that tries to respond to issues that may involve someone in a mental crisis. It was instituted after police shot and killed a man who was in a psychotic crisis, not understanding what they were dealing with. We can't expect police to respond absolutely perfectly in every situation, but the CIT is a step in the right direction.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Utopian Slums
ALL LEO SHOULD BE TRAINED IN *BASIC EMERGENCY MENTAL HEALTH CRISES*. Caps very necessary here. Very surprised Hingham made this call.
Also, sometimes an impulsive thought or plan of action can be shut down by giving less attention to it. So if he wasn't feeling suicidal daily, a night of sleep and resting his brain might have stopped the immediate threat. But we will never know.
And not everyone who kills themselves show signs of depression beforehand. Parents probably thought it was just an adjustment disorder from breakup and moving back home. Would you blame all of the parents of any kid who ever killed themselves?
I'm sorry, but this is nonsense.
No two week 'training' can prepare you adequately to deal with people with mental health issues. Especially when that training is going to put you in conflict with your previous training. Police officers are taught to take control of the situation as soon as they arrive on scene. So there was no possibility of them 'leaving him alone'. And when someone threatens themselves, it immediately raises the threat level to everyone around that person, especially if that person has a weapon.
I don't know what you people expected the police to do in this situation. Pack up there stuff and drive away? The police didn't do anything to this man. He did it to himself.
Maybe next time, when someone calls the police and says that their son is threatening himself and others, they police should just send a psychiatrist. Lets see how well that works out.
I have a 26 year old son. If he had a bad breakup and was depressed over it and said, "Just leave me alone for a while", I would LEAVE HIM ALONE FOR A WHILE. Eventually he'd get hungry, come down to get food and that would be that. I think the ex-girlfriend called the cops on him just to p*ss him off. It's the PARENTS calling the cops that baffles me. How did they think it would end? Once the cops arrive, they have their protocols to follow. Don't like that ? Don't call 'em.
I would too. However in this story the guy had a gun, that changes the scenario.
The police are in a "no win" situation with cases like this. If they walked away and this guy killed his parents, or went and killed his girlfriend, people would be screaming that the police didn't do their job and that they sould have dealt with him when they were at his house instead of walking away.
The Police have no choice but to meet every threat or perceived threat with great force because we have seen where Police have been ambushed and gunned down for no other reason then they wear a badge.
Society is becoming unhinged and the cops are facing ever increasing threats from drug induced crazy people to suicide by cop scenarios to possible terrorism where it has never been seen before so the cops need to go in "heavy".
There is always a choice in every scenario.
Their motto used to "We Protect And Serve". Now it is "We Protect And Serve Ourselves".
Their motto used to "We Protect And Serve". Now it is "We Protect And Serve Ourselves".
Hey cops aren't martyrs......they deserve to go home at the end of the day to their families and not get killed because Jr. broke up with his girlfriend and is having a bad day that his parents couldn't fix.
Hey cops aren't martyrs......they deserve to go home at the end of the day to their families and not get killed because Jr. broke up with his girlfriend and is having a bad day that his parents couldn't fix.
Agreed, but this family's history with the cops just looks bad on the basis that they guy's dad had accused the department of harassing him for a couple years.
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