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Fugitive shot, killed during police standoff after barricading himself inside a residence
Posted on 8/23/19 at 8:39 am
Posted on 8/23/19 at 8:39 am
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As the population increases, so does the number of severely mentally ill people who live amongst us, if not the percentage.
All mentally ill people exhibit signs of their condition, some more expressively than others.
When will we begin to pay attention to these signs and institutionalize those who pose a threat to the public?
They’re getting more and more difficult to overlook, literally.
quote:
WEST JORDAN, Utah (KUTV) - A California fugitive was shot and killed at a West Jordan home on Friday night in an officer-involved critical incident.
According to officials, a man wanted for aggravated kidnapping in California - later identified as 34-year-old Jose Martinez - was being tracked by a state agency working with the FBI.
The suspect was then located and a pursuit began where the suspect was able to flee from the authorities.
West Jordan Police was called just before 11 p.m. to offer support to the pursuit. K9 units were also brought in and tracked the fugitive to a neighborhood near an elementary school, where he then barricaded himself inside a residence. Officials then called in a SWAT team.
A standoff then ensued between the man and the responding authorities. When the SWAT team entered the home, there was an altercation and shots were fired. The suspect was shot and killed during the incident.
As the population increases, so does the number of severely mentally ill people who live amongst us, if not the percentage.
All mentally ill people exhibit signs of their condition, some more expressively than others.
When will we begin to pay attention to these signs and institutionalize those who pose a threat to the public?
They’re getting more and more difficult to overlook, literally.
4
Posted on 8/23/19 at 9:14 am to Kentucker
This is one of those things that is so screwed up it can only be the result of a bipartisan foulup in politics. And it is.
Republicans wanted to close all the mental health institutions because they were expensive. Democrats had all seen "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" one too many times. Of course, being politicians, both sides were wrong.
It turns out letting the mentally ill roam free is way more expensive then treating them in an asylum. When you hear about hospitals being swamped with patients a major factor is homeless people who account for 1/3rd of all Emergency room patients.
They also wind up in prison at a very high rate, so we have to pay to treat them and house them while also absorbing the cost of the crimes they committed.
Is it cruel to put the mentally ill in an asylum or institution? I would argue it is far more cruel to simply turn them loose on the streets.
These are people who cannot function in society but we put the burden of care on them and their families. Which is especially heartless because treating mental health problems is expensive. Families are forced to choose between bankrupting themselves to treat their loved ones or letting them go unmedicated.
This is something we need to grit our teeth and pony up the money to deal with. It will be less expensive then letting it go on like it has and it is a hell of a lot more humane.
Republicans wanted to close all the mental health institutions because they were expensive. Democrats had all seen "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" one too many times. Of course, being politicians, both sides were wrong.
It turns out letting the mentally ill roam free is way more expensive then treating them in an asylum. When you hear about hospitals being swamped with patients a major factor is homeless people who account for 1/3rd of all Emergency room patients.
They also wind up in prison at a very high rate, so we have to pay to treat them and house them while also absorbing the cost of the crimes they committed.
Is it cruel to put the mentally ill in an asylum or institution? I would argue it is far more cruel to simply turn them loose on the streets.
These are people who cannot function in society but we put the burden of care on them and their families. Which is especially heartless because treating mental health problems is expensive. Families are forced to choose between bankrupting themselves to treat their loved ones or letting them go unmedicated.
This is something we need to grit our teeth and pony up the money to deal with. It will be less expensive then letting it go on like it has and it is a hell of a lot more humane.
Posted on 8/23/19 at 9:32 am to Arksulli
quote:
It turns out letting the mentally ill roam free is way more expensive then treating them in an asylum.
So true. And not just because of mass shootings. They commit less sensational crimes as this article shows. They rape, assault, steal and cause havoc in society. Not all criminals are insane but when we talk about “the criminal mind” it’s usually in the context of mental illness.
Posted on 8/23/19 at 11:14 am to Kentucker
Good, glad the trash is dead.
Posted on 8/23/19 at 11:17 am to Arksulli
quote:
This is one of those things that is so screwed up it can only be the result of a bipartisan foulup in politics. And it is.
One of the most colossal blunders ever, from both sides.
Posted on 8/23/19 at 10:06 pm to Arksulli
quote:
Richards had been staying at a homeless encampment in nearby woods.
When I lived in Atlanta there was an estimated 25,000 homeless men living like this in the region. We called them urban outdoorsmen.
I rode with the police in Gwinnett County to some of their sites to study these homeless men's living conditions. They did not like the intrusion into their lives. They didn't want help or, seemingly, anything from anybody. Their shelters were makeshift and they scavenged food from wherever they could.
They were unkempt and obviously suffering from mental illness. It's frightening to think that there are so many of them. They should certainly be institutionalized. When they suffer psychotic breaks like the subject in your linked article, they pose a deadly risk to the public at large. That man has no idea why he killed that young woman.
If a lion had escaped from a zoo and killed the young woman while she was golfing, we would be shocked but "that's what lions do" would be accepted as the reason. It's high time we begin to say "that's what the mentally ill do" and keep them in cages just as we do wild animals.
Posted on 8/24/19 at 12:50 am to Kentucker
We need locked, long term mental institutions at the state and federal level.
We had them until Regan closed down the government funded institutions under his presidency. After that we created a massive homeless problem and treated the mentally ill by police. Not only is this 6 times more expensive than the old institutions it is totally ineffective. I would add a curb on hate and fear programming that attracts the mentally ill like moths to a flame while educating the general populace that ignoring it will be more expensive over the long term. We need to eliminate the stigma to effectively deal with the acceptance of proper treatment for the mentally ill.
We need.....
Base health governmental insurance (both mental and physical)
Supplemental private insurance to keep the cracks covered over the base insurance
Bring back orphanages if we are going to eliminate abortions
Bring back shame to create at least a base level of personal standards for behavior
Bring back a WPA type work program to create a future base work force
Having our heads in the sand will not make the problems go away, it will only assure they get worse.
We had them until Regan closed down the government funded institutions under his presidency. After that we created a massive homeless problem and treated the mentally ill by police. Not only is this 6 times more expensive than the old institutions it is totally ineffective. I would add a curb on hate and fear programming that attracts the mentally ill like moths to a flame while educating the general populace that ignoring it will be more expensive over the long term. We need to eliminate the stigma to effectively deal with the acceptance of proper treatment for the mentally ill.
We need.....
Base health governmental insurance (both mental and physical)
Supplemental private insurance to keep the cracks covered over the base insurance
Bring back orphanages if we are going to eliminate abortions
Bring back shame to create at least a base level of personal standards for behavior
Bring back a WPA type work program to create a future base work force
Having our heads in the sand will not make the problems go away, it will only assure they get worse.
Posted on 8/24/19 at 10:18 am to Cheese Grits
quote:
We need locked, long term mental institutions at the state and federal level.
Hear, hear. Currently we rely on hospitals to treat people suffering from severe mental health problems but a good sized pysch ward at a hospital will have something like 5 beds total.
That isn't nearly large enough to handle a mid-sized community like most of us live in, much less a larger community like Memphis, New Orleans, or Atlanta.
Posted on 8/24/19 at 4:14 pm to Arksulli
quote:
Hear, hear. Currently we rely on hospitals to treat people suffering from severe mental health problems but a good sized pysch ward at a hospital will have something like 5 beds total.
While more psych beds are needed the bigger issue is mental health care by police. Some meds take 30 to 45 days to work their magic and you will never get that on a 24 to 72 hour hold. Also, for profit jails make lots of money by not really expending money on the mental side of the equation. If that were not bad enough mixing your mentally unstable with real hard core criminals in jail is never a good way to go.
Posted on 8/24/19 at 4:56 pm to Cheese Grits
quote:
We need locked, long term mental institutions at the state and federal level.
It’s bewildering to me that we spend so much on welfare and so little on mental health. The first responsibility of a government is to keep its citizenry safe. We should eliminate welfare in the public sector and fund mental health institutions.
Posted on 8/24/19 at 6:42 pm to Kentucker
quote:
t’s bewildering to me that we spend so much on welfare and so little on mental health.
People who receive welfare vote for those who give them welfare.
quote:
The first responsibility of a government is to keep its citizenry safe.
It should be, yes.
quote:
We should eliminate welfare in the public sector and fund mental health institutions.
I've said many times, the government should let churches and other private institutions deal with true welfare needy people, and that will stop the non needs from getting services they don't need, but just want because of the inefficiency of govt.
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