General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Police shoot teenage special-needs girl within 20 seconds of arriving to ‘help’ [View all]Lee-Lee
(6,324 posts)None of us know enough for sure what events preceded that event- but the article tells us that the daughter had previously had these episodes where the family had to call 911.
So like it or not, there were warning signs and indications she was prone to this behavior.
I am sure the parents thought they were doing the right thing. They always do in cases such as this (and I have worked with many) because they have a mental block against the idea of having to send a child off for any kind of residential treatment.
If you have a child that is prone to being violent and attacking others due to mental illness, and that can't be managed 100% with treatment, either due to ineffectiveness or unwillingness to take meds, keeping that person out where then can and will threaten or harm others is going to have a bad ending- either for the person or others around them who get harmed.
It appears the parents did just that. Then waited until their daughter was at her absolute worst and called police. So in a typical dispatch you get about 30-46 seconds of info "woman with knife at xxxx xxxx road, parents say daughter is off meds and out of control". Police show up, go in, and if the daughter makes a lunge or other move like she is going to stab them or a family member they have to stop her. Most times that happens and yen cops clean up the parents mess and then the parents start sobbing about how she is "so sweet" and "not usually like this" and get upset when you handcuff daughter and send her for a 72 hour psych eval, but they check her out as soon as possible and bring her home for the cycle to start all over again.
It plays out like that hundreds of times a day all over this country and you never hear about it.
Sadly a right fraction of the time events unfold where the only response is either deadly force or let and officer or family member get hurt or killed. You of course will always hear about those cases.
I'm probably the only one in this discussion who has been in the shoes of these officers, called in because parents or caregivers tried to manage a mentally ill person whose care was way above their ability to provide. Sometimes because they insisted, sometimes because the system failed to offer proper care. It's a no-win for everybody.