Another family learns that the Police aren't going to help with the Mentally Ill.

[Savannahmann]

In yet another example of the police and their asinine response to the mentally ill we have the story from today. I almost typed this week, but I'm sure that the Police somewhere in the nation, I mean there are 300 million of us, will shoot and kill another mentally ill person this week.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2535036/Mentally-ill-18-year-old-Keith-Vidal-shot-dead-Southport-Police-mortified-family-parents-called-help-schizophrenic-episode.html

A North Carolina family is searching for answers and demanding justice after an 18-year-old boy was shot to death Sunday afternoon by police.

The family of Keith Vidal, 18, of Boiling Springs Lakes, called police for help calming him down during a schizophrenic episode, an officer burst through the door and instead killed him in front of his horrified family.

Keith Vidal had a screwdriver and was threatening to fight his mother, police had already subdued when the killing occurred, the parents said during a Monday afternoon press conference.

The family made the big mistake of assuming that the Police were there and trained to help. The Police have one response when someone fails to respect and respond to their authority. I'm very sorry this family learned this lesson the hard way, and I feel for them.

I'm willing to bet that the police officer in question suffers no punishment, heck he'll probably get a promotion for capping a guy who was armed with a screwdriver and crazy.

[Th1onein]

1. You should read the comments in the Daily Mail, on this story.

It is really sad that we have no mental health for our people. America: a joke.

[Savannahmann]

11. Disturbing aren't they?

The lesson to be learned is never call the police, because all you can count on them to do is overreact.

[Th1onein]

17. Absolutely.

Of course, recently, I had occasion to call the police. But, then, at that point, I didn't give a shit if they overreacted. I think the better advice would be to not call the police unless you are agreeable to someone being killed or seriously injured.

[Demeter]

2. In my city, there's more tolerance and understanding

the police have encountered my mentally disabled and autistic daughter on several occasions. They acted appropriately, as they have protocols to follow.

I think it's training, first of all, then the character of the officers.

[Android3.14]

3. Exactly

While there may be a larger element of officers who screw up with fatal mistakes, training and reinforcement can alleviate much of them.

[Laxman]

15. Couldn't Put It Better...

This is more a symptom of the poor hiring and training practices than police in general. I witnessed first hand a cop in my small town in NJ diffuse a situation where a mentally disturbed man brandished a shotgun. His younger partner was ready to shoot the guy. I saw him get his partner to holster his gun, calm things down, treat the guy appropriately and convince him to hand over the shotgun. It was character and experience along with (trust me) a lot of courage too. One of the most amazing things I have ever seen. Unfortunately, there aren't enough cops like him anymore.

[Locrian]

4. WTF??!

He had been tased multiple times, the situation was under control, but the Southport Police Department officer said ‘we don’t have time for this’ and shot the boy to death while two officers held him down, Mr Wilsey continued, according to WECT.

[LuvNewcastle]

9. "We don't have time for this?"

That is fucking cold-blooded murder. No two ways about it.

[jmowreader]

19. CNN is reporting it differently

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/07/justice/north-carolina-teen-killed/

The first cops on the scene were in the process of talking him down when the "fat cop from Southport" got there and told the officers already on scene, "we don't have time for this, tase him now and let's get him out of here." Schizophrenics have a very high pain tolerance, so when they tased him it just pissed him off and he went on the attack. Which led to him getting murdered.

The fat cop from Southport needs a very long stint making license plates.

[intaglio]

5. As told to me by my Father

1960s;
Dad was a GP (family doctor) in Manchester when he had a call from the police that one of his patients was ill and would not admit them to his apartment. Now father knew that although this patient was schizophrenic or bipolar he (mostly) trusted my father so he went to find a Sergeant and 4 Constables outside with dustbin lids and an opinion that the gentleman inside was "a bit agitated". Dad knocked and after some negotiation was told he could come in.

Inside was the patient with an axe and an opinion that "they" were coming for him. Dad carefully kept the kitchen table between himself and the patient, having to sprint round it a couple of times before the patient became calm again. Eventually dad persuaded the sick man to take his medications including a tranquiliser and finally was able to disarm him and get him to agree to being "sectioned" (again). No arrest, no handcuffs, no police cells; they all waited for the ambulance and one of the constables made everyone a nice cup of tea.

It was a different age ...

[freshwest]

13. +1

[H2O Man]

6. Tragic.

I did trainings for state, county, and municipal police in upstate NY, on dealing with crises in the community involving mentally ill people. Those types of trainings help, but do not totally eliminate the possibility of a gross over-reaction on the part of individual officers. In my job, I came to know a lot of good and decent police officers, and others who were unfit for the duties of their job. I saw people treated with dignity and respect, and in other cases, with brutality.

Recommended.

[SCUBANOW]

7. wow just wow.

[kentauros]

8. However, the Daily Mail article has left out some pertinent events in the timeline.

I read this yesterday via boingboing, and here's what's missing from the Daily Mail piece:

Two officers were able to calm Vidal, reported Star News Online. A third arrived and entered the family's home, and the teen was tased and restrained on that officer's instructions, then shot in the chest.

Anthony Owens, a family friend, wrote at CNN's iReport that Vidal was in a "more rational" state by the time the third officer arrived and told the others to stop negotiating. At this, he said, Vidal tried to flee into a bathroom before being tased and held down.

I noticed that the Daily Mail condensed the above to simply "The 90-pound boy was initially subdued by two officers and only became upset when a third officer arrived, stepfather Mark Wilsey said, according to WBTW."

So, in this case it appears that the first two officers were indeed helping and succeeding in calming him without resorting even to tasers. It was the third, and psychopathic officer, that inflamed the situation, and then shot the kid.

The Daily Mail has sensationalized this to almost beyond recognition when compared to the calmer and more reasoned piece in boingboing.

[LuvNewcastle]

10. The kid looked about 14. This is heartbreaking.

[etherealtruth]

16. That is how I feel

Looking at that poor kids face is overwhelming.

[frylock]

12. fuck tha police

[Comrade Grumpy]

14. It sounds like this cop needs to be indicted, but I won't health my breath.

[leeroysphitz]

18. "The Police have one response when someone fails to respect and respond to their authority"

To a hammer everything looks like a nail. I would NEVER put these animals near one of my children.

[Savannahmann]

20. I agree

Personally, I wouldn't trust a cop if they said night was dark and day was light.