Former cop compares police who kill mentally ill suspects to nazis

[tanker]

A Columbia University-hosted panel billed as “improving police-community relations†turned into a cop hate fest Thursday, with one former transit detective comparing cops who kill violent, mentally ill suspects to the Nazis.

In addition, civil-rights lawyer Norman Siegel estimated there are about 400 bad cops — meaning bigoted or hostile — in the *Police Department.
“That’s not a few bad apples,†said Siegel, who has called for random psychiatric testing of cops, as part of a panel at the university’s School of International & Public Affairs.

Pretty harsh accusations, just because a person is mentally ill doesn't mean they can not pose a physical threat. What do you guy's think ?

 

[mrsbright]

As long as the police departments don't teach their police to deal with situations with mentally ill people and homeless people on the street, we can expect this. A few months of police academy is wholly insufficient training, and the fact that their solution to dealing with mentally ill suspects is to kill them is proof of that. A lot of mental illnesses can be dangerous, but actually, not as much as the stereotypes want us to believe, and usually, mentally ill people bring themselves in danger more than others. And when they are this many bigots, you can expect that a lot of police officers, instead of de-escalating a conflict, just push all the wrong triggers on mentally ill people and then they can shrug and say "They got violent" after they get "forced to murder them".

Any social worker would tell you that cops have no clue how to handle this and that they cause more trouble than they solve with mentally ill people.

 

[missbishi]

It's all about profiling. I suspect that people have a pre-formed belief that those with mental illnesses will turn violent. So when it comes to conflict, they are more likely to pull the trigger because of a percieved (not actual) threat.

 

[stevesxs9]

I agree that training or the lack thereof, has a lot to do with it. It seems in quite a few cases that the Police use violence as the first resort instead of the last. I'm all for Policemen and Women defending themselves, but not at the expense of the innocent.

 

[tanker]

As long as the police departments don't teach their police to deal with situations with mentally ill people and homeless people on the street, we can expect this. A few months of police academy is wholly insufficient training, and the fact that their solution to dealing with mentally ill suspects is to kill them is proof of that. A lot of mental illnesses can be dangerous, but actually, not as much as the stereotypes want us to believe, and usually, mentally ill people bring themselves in danger more than others. And when they are this many bigots, you can expect that a lot of police officers, instead of de-escalating a conflict, just push all the wrong triggers on mentally ill people and then they can shrug and say "They got violent" after they get "forced to murder them".

Any social worker would tell you that cops have no clue how to handle this and that they cause more trouble than they solve with mentally ill people.

I never thought of that, I just assumed most modern police get proper trsining on how to handle mentally ill people. Probably they should have social workers working closer with the police when they have to handle mentally ill people. There just needs to be more education.

 

[mrsbright]

I never thought of that, I just assumed most modern police get proper trsining on how to handle mentally ill people. Probably they should have social workers working closer with the police when they have to handle mentally ill people. There just needs to be more education.

If you look the thread about police academy in the US, it looks like 12 weeks is the normal amount of training a cop gets. It would be hard to squeeze that in. I know in my old town in Canada, social workers tried to get the police to rely on them, too. But I'd say most cops would not bother to wait, now would they?

 

[Rainman]

A cop is just human. The first instinct of everyone is survival. If a policeman feels their life is in danger, then quite obviously they'll shoot the person whom they think/believe is a threat. Another thing is, since mentally ill people won't obey an officer's commands a police officer who may not know that this person is mentally ill would take that action as defiance/resisting arrest and might open fire.

One thing those who harshly judge these officers who kill mentally ill suspects forget to mention is that some of these people are very dangerous. A few years back someone told me that a mentally ill man, armed with a knife stabbed random people on a street . He was subdued by a martial arts expert but by then one of his victims had died. In extreme situations like these one, using lethal force to protect others is permissible. Would it be fair to compare such a person to Nazis?

 

[JohnBrock]

It's important to remember that there are many different kinds of mental illnesses and that the officers have to respond accordingly when they're dealing with the suspects, if they feel as if their lives are being threatened, then they will act accordingly, regardless of the mental state of the suspect. Not all officers can be trained in accessing mental illnesses and states of minds...

 

[jeremy2]

A mentally ill suspect poses the same danger as normal suspects so methods used to subdue them should be equal in measure. If he is a threat to the general public and to himself, no chances should be taken when subduing him.

 

[mrsbright]

A cop is just human. The first instinct of everyone is survival. If a policeman feels their life is in danger, then quite obviously they'll shoot the person whom they think/believe is a threat. Another thing is, since mentally ill people won't obey an officer's commands a police officer who may not know that this person is mentally ill would take that action as defiance/resisting arrest and might open fire.

They might be just human, but yet social workers and other people trained in mental illness will be able to de-escalate a situation without killing anybody and without ending up dead. People can argue that police people cannot be taught this (and yeah, how could they when they get a very short training and nothing more?), but it is a fact that they just don't have the necessary skills to avoid the situation from getting violent. And cops who just act like they would with anyone else -- rushed, aggressive, pushy and showing that they're ready to shoot you down -- of course will trigger a negative reaction from mentally ill people who feel in danger, too. They're only human, right? Except one is mentally ill and the other is trained for handling situations. Also, trained to kill.

Now I wish that people would see that yeah, they are human so they'll make mistakes -- but they should damn well try to correct it because they have a responsibility to protect.
And since they are only human and make a ton of mistake and all, maybe people should stop acting like they are heroes, too.