Scribe's last point is spot on. How are officers supposed to deal with mental illness suspects? Are they well-equipped i.e. trained to do so? Is there a better technique?

 

Good question. I'm sure officers receive some form of training in dealing with the mentally ill.

 

My question is how does one determine the difference between a mentally ill person and someone who is high on a mind altering substance ? Without doing any research, I assume in many cases the two have many of the same signs. Slurred speech, erratic movements, etc. I would think it would be nearly impossible to tell the difference while maintaining a safe distance from someone who you believe could have a weapon.

 

If the events played out as the pictures show, I can't find any fault in the officers.

 

I've said it before, at the moment I feel my life is in danger, I choose my life over yours. 100 out of 100 times and I'll deal with the consequences of my actions later. Doesn't matter if it's a man, woman, child, black, white, mentally ill or high on something. When I feel my life is threatened, I choose to live. I think that's what theses officers were doing as well.

Good question. I'm sure officers receive some form of training in dealing with the mentally ill.

 

My question is how does one determine the difference between a mentally ill person and someone who is high on a mind altering substance ? Without doing any research, I assume in many cases the two have many of the same signs. Slurred speech, erratic movements, etc. I would think it would be nearly impossible to tell the difference while maintaining a safe distance from someone who you believe could have a weapon.

 

If the events played out as the pictures show, I can't find any fault in the officers.

 

I've said it before, at the moment I feel my life is in danger, I choose my life over yours. 100 out of 100 times and I'll deal with the consequences of my actions later. Doesn't matter if it's a man, woman, child, black, white, mentally ill or high on something. When I feel my life is threatened, I choose to live. I think that's what theses officers were doing as well.

 

Officers have the same issue in determining the difference in mentally ill and intoxicated as they do in cases where a suspect aims a gun with the intent to shoot and in a case where a suspect aims a gun wanting the be killed via suicide by cop.

 

You are talking mere seconds to determine and analyze the threat.

Here's the problem with the "would you wait to see what it is" thinking.

 

The picture I saw had the victim down in his firing stance with both hands extended with whatever it was - gun , shoe, whatever. There was an officer right in front of him in a firing stance and appeared to be only a few feet away. He obviously waited long enough for the guy to get whatever he had out of his pockets, go into his stance, and point it outward with two hands and still no shot. Like the Tulsa shooting, one officer fired a taser and the other fired a bullet.

 

So the question will be asked: Why didn't the taser guy shoot? Did he see it wasn't a real gun? Was he frozen in fear despite it being a real gun?

 

You are talking seconds Clyde. Mere seconds.

 

I'm going to fire in this situation.

If the photo is deemed to be an accurate portrayal of what went down, I have no problem with the shooting. None at at all.

 

The problem is, up until 2-3 years ago, no one outside the family would have had an issue with it either.

If the photo is deemed to be an accurate portrayal of what went down, I have no problem with the shooting. None at at all.

 

The problem is, up until 2-3 years ago, no one outside the family would have had an issue with it either.

 

The pic I posted is supposed to be taken by a bystander. Im shooting.

So is protesting warranted in this case?

Scribe's last point is spot on. How are officers supposed to deal with mental illness suspects? Are they well-equipped i.e. trained to do so? Is there a better technique?

 

Not in the current climate we're in. Folks with mental illnesses are not necessarily seen as dangerous, scary things that should be locked away in institutions anymore, and that's a plus as far as how our society goes.

 

But while we make more efforts than we used to, as a society, we now try to get folks who suffer from mental illnesses into productive life paths (whether via medication, counseling or some other form of treatment), but we also have no clue how to deal with them when they go off the path.

 

Unfortunately, all that's left to deal with them is law enforcement, and that's one more daily pressure those folks in law enforcement don't need. They are no more well-equipped to deal with those folks than most other people on this board, and it's not fair that sometimes they end up in bad and/or fatal situations.

I'll say what I've said several times on here already. It is very common in "unknown" situations where there is confrontation for one officer to go lethal (gun), and one less lethal (taser). If I'm the cop with the taser, I don't give a hoot, if he's pulling a gun I'm popping off that taser cause I don't have time to transition to my gun. A taser is better than standing there fiddle flipping with my taser and trying to get my gun out.

Here's the problem with the "would you wait to see what it is" thinking.

 

The picture I saw had the victim down in his firing stance with both hands extended with whatever it was - gun , shoe, whatever. There was an officer right in front of him in a firing stance and appeared to be only a few feet away. He obviously waited long enough for the guy to get whatever he had out of his pockets, go into his stance, and point it outward with two hands and still no shot. Like the Tulsa shooting, one officer fired a taser and the other fired a bullet.

 

So the question will be asked: Why didn't the taser guy shoot? Did he see it wasn't a real gun? Was he frozen in fear despite it being a real gun?

 

Not sure why the tazer was not fired, I would need to see the whole tape. I'm not a cop, but if I pulled the tazer I would use it immediately.

 

I don't think in the heat of the confrontation you can wait to see the gun barrel, with the kind of movements this guy was making. From the photo he looks like he is drawing a weapon. In this case it was a vapor device.

 

Not sure what you mean "frozen in fear"

Not sure why the tazer was not fired, I would need to see the whole tape. I'm not a cop, but if I pulled the tazer I would use it immediately.

 

I don't think in the heat of the confrontation you can wait to see the gun barrel, with the kind of movements this guy was making. From the photo he looks like he is drawing a weapon. In this case it was a vapor device.

 

Not sure what you mean "frozen in fear"

 

Dude's a human being. Frozen is fear is a possibility, right? That's not a judgement on him as a person. It probably happens more than we realize.

Too many times, people who are trained to deal with mental illness call for help from the police, who are not as trained to deal with them.

 

Again, not sure why the police were called in this case. Or why they were called with the autistic guy and his caregiver in Florida earlier this year that saw the caregiver accidentially shot.

 

There is too large a gap in mental illness training for police.

Too many times, people who are trained to deal with mental illness call for help from the police, who are not as trained to deal with them.

 

Again, not sure why the police were called in this case. Or why they were called with the autistic guy and his caregiver in Florida earlier this year that saw the caregiver accidentially shot.

 

There is too large a gap in mental illness training for police.

 

Who should have been called?

Who should have been called?

 

That's the problem — there's no good answer.

Who should have been called?

Why the police? Why not an EMT or firefighter?