Amen To That, Brother!

This gentleman said it far better than I could........

Who should be caring for them?

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/3602212.html

Maybe I'm a hard ass, but it seems to me that if he is so crazy and not responsible for his actions, why didn't the family take better care of him? You see this over and over with mentally ill people who fight with the police and wind up dead for whatever reason. The family jumps in front of the TV saying the usual "he was sick, he needed help," or "the police murdered my baby!" The family should control him, if they can't, they call the police who do what they have to do to protect themselves and others and the ill person winds up dead. Now, the family is after blood. I believe I touched up on this in an earlier post, in a jail situation, an Emergency Response Team's job is to deal with problem inmates regardless of why they are problems. This guy fought tooth and nail. So he's bipolar, so what! Do they expect the officers to take a beating because this man is off his meds? Am I expected to let a crazy person kill me because he can't help it? Crazy or not, no officer is going to lay down his or her life because the family or the person themselves failed to take proper care.

posted by Jason @ 9:48 AM

Good post, Jason of cigarsdonutsandcoffee

And here's another one of his that I agree with:

Bitter pill to swallow....

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/3602222.html

The judge did the right thing in ordering a psychiatric evaluation for this maniac. The law only punishes criminals who knew or should have known their actions were wrong. Now having said that, I was irritated by the lawyer who said the police should have let him go, wait at his house and question him. Also, his client isn't responsible for what he did, it's society's fault. Society should have held his hand, made sure he took his medications and gave him hugs when he needed one. This is why people hate lawyers. Something Mr. Flood left out, if the police had let this guy keep terrorizing the roadways and go home, what do you think would have happened when he got home and saw the police waiting for him? Stop and get out of the car? Or run again, sparking yet another dangerous, 2-hour long pursuit through the streets?
The media and his attorney will make this a society ill, claiming bipolar and the devil made him do it. I know many people who are bipolar and not one of them have assaulted anyone, killed anyone, much less run from the police. So the bipolar pill I have a hard time swallowing.
Regardless of all that, sick or not, I do not want this man on the same streets as me. I really don't care what his affliction is, his actions tell me he can't be controlled, he can't behave, so put him away somewhere were he can't hurt me, or any of you.

posted by Jason @ 9:58 AM