Seriously, what is going on here?
Linden Cameron, 13-year-old autistic boy, shot by Salt Lake City police during mental crisis - The Washington Post
Yes, I have been thinking about this too. It hasnāt received much attention in light of all the BLM stuff, but god knows it should.
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So unsettling as we have a grandson with autism. Hope this young man recovers (both physically and emotionally) and that perhaps this can be a learning experience for law enforcement personnel so they better handle these situations in the future.
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I think is a situation where if we could all cool off and then come together, there is a lot of good that can be done. The cops probably shouldnāt have been called. The dispatcher then made it worse (from what Iāve read) by not giving accurate information, making the copsā job even harder. There should have been some sort of social worker that was called instead. We do need reform. You canāt ask a biology teacher to come in and perform surgery.
We shouldnāt be asking cops to do the work that better trained professionals can do.
Can we look past our āallegiancesā to make change for the better? I hope so.
Defund the paramilitary police storm troopers and fund more programs like this.
Since its launch June 1, the STAR van has responded to more than 350 calls, replacing police in matters that donāt threaten public safety and are often connected to unmet mental or physical needs. The goal is to connect people who pose no danger with services and resources while freeing up police to respond to other calls. The team, which is not armed, has not called police for backup, Sailon said.
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What the parent said they told the dispatcher and what the police said they were told by the dispatcher were completely different leading to a very dangerous situation which could have had a tragic outcome.
I will say nothing more than this.
The rush to āknowā what happened is part of what causes issues in 2020.
I donāt care which āsideā you decide to fall on, please wait for the investigation to be completed before making decisions or pronouncements. And certainly donāt take anything you read in the media as factual.
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Iāve been thinking about this all day today, and have read as much was available. Its a sad state of affairs. I donāt necessarily want to comment on the actions of the police right now, but I feel for this child and his family right now. I also am concerned for others with mental illness or autism who may be fearful as a result of what has happened. Having gone to school, church, boy scouts, and even having been paid to work with and supervise those on the spectrum, this just breaks my heart. Iāve even seen autism touch those within my own family. The fact that this child was in the midst of some psychiatric episode also makes this very painful. I sincerely hope some good comes out of this, and I hope this young man recovers and gets all of the treatment and resources he needs. As well as the very biggest settlement possible.
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Wise advice. Difficult to be patient with these things. Easy to lash out.
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Waiting for the investigations of these matters would be prudent except for whoās doing the investigating? I donāt trust the report if itās made by other police officers or institutions directly involved.
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Hate to say it, but this was my first thought as well. Waiting for the police department to investigate themselves and find themselves innocent of any wrongdoing doesnāt mean much.
Iād hope that there could be some sort of neutral third party that can do the assessment, but Iām not holding my breath for that.
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Cops should not be involved in any mental health issue. Maybe the cops can be contacted if a real mental health professional deems it necessary, but cops are too militarized thinking they are some sort of gods.
These cops need to be arrested, convicted, and then thrown in gen pop. Thatāll fix the problems with these racist, violent cops quickly.
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I understand what you mean, but I can think of many scenarios where youād probably want police to at least be present, as people experiencing severe symptoms can be very dangerous to others. But generally, I agree that we need people who have the proper training and experience to properly escalate and assist individuals with mental health issues who may be in crisis. However, I have worked closely enough with CIT officers to know that they can be effective in deescalating mentally unwell individuals. The last time I interacted with one he disclosed that all officers receive this training now. That obviously doesnāt mean that everyone has the proper skill set or personality for it.
I understand the anger towards police, especially when we hear about this egregious shooting of a 13-year-old which is practically indefensible as far as Iām concerned. However, what concerns me is the demonizing of the police force. Are there issues? No question. But this idealistic idea that replacing them with social workers, taking away their guns, defunding them, etc doesnāt appear to be well thought out to me. Are elements of those arguments valid? Absolutely. But there has to be some middle ground here.
Iām willing to be wrong, but people just seem to be jumping to conclusions because they are angry. When people are angry, my experience is that they are not thinking clearly. Just my opinion.
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This video shows, IMO, that the shooting was indeed egregious. We have a grandson whoās autistic. Heās really smart, but has had episodes in the past with self-destructive behavior. This could just as easily been him.
I get that cops have a rough job and there really are people out there that wish them harm. I donāt believe they have to be shot at first before responding, but there certainly seems to be some quick triggers with lots of rounds being fired going on these days.
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Our neighbors son across the back fence has Down Syndrome and is Autistic as well. He is generally a very gentle child but can become belligerent when things change or donāt go as he expects. He is 11 and getting to be a pretty big kid. In not too many years be may get to be too large to manage physically if he needs help and winds up in crisis for some reason. He is pretty much non verbal so unless you understand his grunts and sounds it can be difficult to understand what he is communicating. I fear what might happen if he winds up in crisis over something that has changed that he canāt cope with and a bystander decides to call the cops. He is the sweetest kid but if someone doesnāt understand what is going on and calls the cops he could wind up dead because some trigger happy cop decides his ālife is in dangerā
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Cops, huh? What ya gonna do?
I was taught to keep your head down, say yes sir, and avoid them like the plague.
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Perhaps? Learning experience??? No. That cop is a danger to society and needs to be locked up right away.
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