This Tragedy Result of "Passing the Buck" in my Neighborhood

DaisyFace

Love me...Love me not
Man to be charged in slayings of girlfriend, officer | Mobile Augusta

A police officer is dead. A young woman is dead.

The suspect? A 26 year old with a history of mental health issues. He has been in and out of the local psychiatric hospital.

The VERY SAME psychiatric hospital in the VERY SAME COUNTY MH SYSTEM that I have been dealing with for the past however many years.

Is anyone surprised that this man has been continually released back into society incident after incident after incident? County MH does not want responsibility for him. And because of the history of MH issues - the police were content to refer him back to County MH for treatment.

Maybe this latest issue is a way to focus the spotlight on the poor MH services in this area? And what the budget cuts are doing not only to MH patients - but to our society?
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
This is only too familiar, isn't it?

We had one who killed a much-loved Deputy Sheriff in January 2011 - supposed to be monitored, and wasn't... And then there was Jared Loughner.

GAH!
 

DaisyFace

Love me...Love me not
It's disgusting! (And don't even get me started on Jared Loughner!)

At some point - somebody, somewhere is going to start questioning whether providing better MH services is a good investment in public safety.
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
People like us question it.

But then the "powers that be" (i.e., Ted Strickland) cut funding...
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
The trouble with MH services is...
1) it is expensive.
2) it has a high failure rate.

Hmmm...
That kind of sounds a bit like the warehouse system that passes for jail?

I totally agree that paying for MH is still going to provide a higher success rate than the alternatives do.
But too many taxpayers will keep track of nothing but the failures, to prove that it isn't worth it.
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
Seems to me that NIMBY is the problem that probably will prevent appropriate services. If families have no MH issues in their family they don't see wasting money on "nut care". If families have no educational issues they think the schools are fine. If families have never had a difficult child adjudicated guilty of a felony they believe "felons are the scum of the earth" and prisons are too good for them.

The politicians gear their actions to the majority vote. Often the majority are just folks who are blessed and honestly don't know it. Sigh. DDD
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Argh, so typical.
Yes, county/state mental health svcs don't work. But perhaps if judges committed people for life, and legislators found a way to fund such places, it would help. These people are not getting better and need to be locked up. But the people who work in these fields need better training.
I am so sorry, DF, but I can clearly see that this is, indeed, the same MH system that you use. Sigh.
 
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