LeGRIER, JONES, AND ALTERNATIVES TO CALLING POLICE FOR THE MENTALLY ILL

"Quintonio Legrier's mother, Janet Cooksey, who was not present at the time of the shooting, told the Chicago Tribune that her son had been dealing with mental issues, but said police didn't have to react the way they did.

"We're thinking the police are going to service us, take him to the hospital. They took his life," she said.

She said her son "didn't have a gun. He had a bat."

"If you are a police officer, you are supposed to be trained for situations," she said,according to CBS station WBBM. "Seven bullets were put in my son. Seven." "

~CBS NEWS 

The Chicago Police put at least one bullet in a neighbor, Bettie Jones, for simply opening her front door. This was reportedly an accident.


READ MORE:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/chicago-police-kill-quintonio-legrier-bettie-jones-families-outraged/ 

COMPARE: British Officers disarm a man 
wielding a machete 
in Britain in 2011 (or before)

Pay more attention to the deaths of black women and maybe we'll all be a little more aware that calling the police for a mentally ill person that's even slightly out of control is a high risk maneuver if you want that loved one to survive the encounter.

3 out of 4 of these black women, all except Yvette Smith,
were reportedly mentally ill 
and killed under questionable circumstances
Miriam Carey (Top Left) Natasha McKenna (Top Right) and
 Tanesha Anderson (Bottom Center)

We have no way of knowing how often the police handle these situations well. But when so little provokes the leading edge of white supremacy to violence in the United States. Police officers like Dante Servin, also of Chicago, tend to walk after they murder someone, much less when they are incompetent or negligent.


When people who carry weapons in order to protect ALL OF US are allowed to keep their jobs despite killing people due to being stupid,  overtly racist, or cowardly then you're kinda rolling the dice when you call the police on to help you with someone that's out of control -- especially if they are out of control while having dark skin. Heck, I've heard of some off the wall crap happening to mentally ill white people in some of the towns I've lived in.

THINGS TO DO OTHER THAN CALL THE POLICE TO HELP WITH A MENTALLY ILL LOVED ONE


"First things, first. A family member who is under a doctor's care, receiving prescriptions for medication and possibly also enrolled in some type of (clinic based) counseling is provided with "Crises Hotline" numbers--be it suicide or poison control or other outreach programs. 

Those numbers must be kept at arm's reach in the event the person stops taking meds or overdoses. If the person is being monitored others can detect when s/he is about to have "an episode" and then take appropriate action. There are also emergency domestic violence hotline numbers. 

This information should be researched and made available to all concerned/involved family members. It's way too easy to dial 911 under the misguided notion the cops will "go the extra mile" to research and contact a medical professional. 

Oh, the cops MIGHT do a little extra in the name of not getting charged with brutality. And I refer to the fake "caring attitude" a few of them tried to put on for the video cameras after Mr. Eric Garner was down, in cardiac arrest and not moving! 

They may try to "show clean and safe" [after] they d*mn near beat a person to within an inch of her/his life and only if they haven't killed the individual in the process of "gaining lawful control." 

You must think and prepare for "what if" situations instead of "hoping and waiting" and then--in a last-minute all out panic--dial 911 expecting them to "save or rescue" your loved one who is "acting up." They'll come as you well know. They'll show up guns drawn, batons and tasers, and pepper spray shouting orders the affected person will not necessarily hear or (in an altered state of mind) be able to comprehend and, therefore, respond to. 

All it takes is for one responding officer to yell "GUN!" and everybody on scene unloads their glocks. That's a "one shot quick way" to bring an "altercation" to a screeching a** halt and it's done more often than the public realizes. 

It's up to the family to know the number(s) of the prescribing physician, have a record of after-hours phone numbers along with any local emergency backup clinic off hours numbers. Even the pharmacy where scripts are filled can provide an emergency number to call in the case of suspected overdose. If someone is having a breakdown a "ready-to-action-family" plan must be the first place to turn. 911 ain't the place to go as the first line of defense. Trust."

JB