People with mental illness are shown as psychotic killers in movies and on tv. They are used in horror stories as the ultimate evil. People with mental illness are much more likely to be killed than to kill. Police don't have training in mental health and don't know how to approach a person going through an episode.
Every police department needs to have a special team of people with mental health training. Those people will respond to wellness calls and to situations like Mr. Trammell's. They know how to de-escalate.
This should never have happened. Who do the police work for? How do we want our community to be safe & a good place to live? Mental health problems are an issue now because of the stress of COVID-19. People who already have mental health problems are even more at risk. They are not throw-away people. We are in this together.
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People with mental illness are shown as psychotic killers in movies and on tv. They are used in horror stories as the ultimate evil. People with mental illness are much more likely to be killed than to kill. Police don't have training in mental health and don't know how to approach a person going through an episode.
Every police department needs to have a special team of people with mental health training. Those people will respond to wellness calls and to situations like Mr. Trammell's. They know how to de-escalate.
This should never have happened. Who do the police work for? How do we want our community to be safe & a good place to live? Mental health problems are an issue now because of the stress of COVID-19. People who already have mental health problems are even more at risk. They are not throw-away people. We are in this together.
/div>Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by Disability Justice.
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