Violent Mentally Ill Issue is a National Problem

The Eye took note of the Journal’s claim that 50 people showed up at the Civic Plaza on Tuesday to protest against APD. There were several signs that asked for peace and justice. The Eye wants to know where were all these “family and friends” who know their loved one was mentally ill and did very little or nothing to ensure that, that person received medical attention or assured that their friend or loved one took the medication to help control their violent behavior?

When the police dealt with any of these individuals, it was not because the police were on the hunt for some mentally ill person to see if they could escalate that person into a violent psychosis; in the hope of being able to gun them down. No! The police were there because someone, a family member or friend or a neighbor called the police because they could not handle this violent individual or the police were there as a result of the violent behavior that was precipitated by the mentally ill individual.

These people who claim to be family and friends have to bear the majority of the responsibility for what transpired. The police have a fiduciary duty to respond to calls for service. Does any citizen want the police to create a policy where the dispatchers hold the call for an hour or so, in hopes that the mentally ill individual might calm down and be “Mister Nice” when the police arrive? Lives are on the line; the police must respond and act accordingly.

The Journal (as usual) was trying to sell a few extras of their product to try and inflame the public. Let’s do the math here. If there were 50 people (the Journal claims about 50) out protesting and there have been 18 police involved shootings, which means that only three people represented each victim.

This is not a local police issue but a national crisis and should be addressed as such. Chief Schultz is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) which offers national support for police issues in addition to the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). The IACP and the FOP Presidents have spoken directly to the President of the United Stated as well as our Congress. With assistance at a national level, not only from the FOP and IACP but from our house of representatives and our senators Understanding HIPAA and other restrictive laws, the time has come to create a new index for National Crime Information Center Data Base (NCIC) to house information concerning mentally ill persons across the United States. The NCIC data base is a computerized index of criminal justice information. This would give law enforcement officers across the Country a valuable tool in dealing with this segment of our population. Knowledge is the rawest form of influence and with this type of knowledge (influence); the officer’s decision making process would shift into high gear and hopefully save lives.

The Eye understands the concerns of a grieving family. Family and friends should be part of the solution and not part of the problem. Family and friends should take responsibility for their mentally ill member’s actions that set the stage for their demise and stop pointing fingers. These people need to lobby their representatives and senators.

If Schultz or White want to steal this idea and run with it; the Eye is okay with that…