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Utah cops shoot boy with autism after mom calls 911 for help

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by KingCheetah, Sep 8, 2020.

  1. Amiga

    Amiga Member

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    That behaviors isn’t out of the ordinary for autism. You would think cops know such behaviors but no, most probably don’t. I said it before - reduce the scope of police. They aren’t well equipped to handle anything properly except for violent criminals.
     
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  2. deb4rockets

    deb4rockets Member
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    This is horrifying for any parent with a child with Autism. I've worked with hundreds of children with Autism, and each one is entirely different. Even a child who is high functioning can have an emotional or violent outburst over something you or I may see as trivial. It could be anything out of their normal routine that triggers them.

    Police should be well trained to handle people with Autism, as well as any type of mental illness. This is why we need much better training for police who deal with situations like this. My God, if she told them her son was Autistic the last thing they should have done was to shoot. There is no excuse for doing anything but restraining the child until he calmed down.

    Can you imagine if a teacher shot a child in her Autism class because he had a meltdown and started throwing chairs or hitting her? Believe me, that stuff happens almost every day in some Autism classes. I should know, I've taught in over 25 Autism classes.

    Learning how to deescalate the situation is essential. Police of all people should know this. If teachers can handle these situations without a gun the police certainly can. Those cops should be locked up.
     
    #22 deb4rockets, Sep 8, 2020
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2020
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  3. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Member

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    Libs and Dems are behind on messaging but this would be a great example for refunding the social safety net, aka entitlements for the poor and proud yet silent middle class.

    Some people don't give a **** about bleeding heart causes till they themselves get a paper cut...
     
    #23 Invisible Fan, Sep 8, 2020
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2020
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  4. RayRay10

    RayRay10 Houstonian

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    I have a high-functioning autistic child and can certainly relate.

    I do have an issue with police being deployed to the house as they are not trained for this. Why aren’t paramedics deployed instead, or in conjunction with police? This shouldn’t have been a police issue at all as long as the child was not breaking the law...which it sounds like he wasn’t.

    Then again, the police that were deployed should have called for medical backup once on the scene. That’s their fault for not realizing they were out of their element.
     
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  5. LongTimeFan

    LongTimeFan Member

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    Just to be clear -- my first post was a reference to MAGA stealing that hashtag for the white kid because he was shot by a black man. This, of course, was done despite a quick arrest and charge for murder. I doubt that crowd will be looking for the same "justice" when a cop is behind the trigger.
     
  6. Reeko

    Reeko Member

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    I think they should be much more than terminated

    incompetence and reckless behavior on a level like this deserves charges and a conviction
     
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  7. B-Bob

    B-Bob "94-year-old self-described dreamer"
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    I guess I am just ignorant, but on a psych services type family request call, unless someone is brandishing firearms, why would you even draw your weapon to start with? If someone is flipping out, you won't get them to obey you by showing them a gun -- I expect you would just engage their overworked amygdala (fear, panic, anger center) more than ever. :-(

    And thanks, @rimbaud, for the perspective. I think this is completely true: there's just nobody else to call.

    I know 'Merica doesn't care, but a sensible thing to do would be to look at countries that deal with these kinds of calls in a humane and effective way and even consider copying what they're doing. I know, I know -- crazy talk.
     
  8. deb4rockets

    deb4rockets Member
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    I agree completely with everything you said. You know as well as I do then, that calming a child having a meltdown is the key, not force or violence. This was a child!! This poor mom needed help, not some men with guns coming and violently shooting him? It's really disturbing in so many ways. I feel so sorry for her and her child that it makes me teary eyed.

    I can't think of one reason medical professionals weren't sent by 911. Even the police should have called for their assistance. There is so much wrong with this story and It really bothers me.
     
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  9. Buck Turgidson

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    We don't know everything at this point, but from what the mother has said, the police who were dispatched were *supposed* to have that training. Whether they did or not; whether it was appropriate training or not; whether they followed it or not (I'm gonna go ahead and say "not" on this one), is unclear.

    Thankfully the kid lived and hopefully some awareness and change can come out of this.
     
  10. edwardc

    edwardc Member

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    And the fact the the right wingers still don't get it makes it worse.
     
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  11. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    But @rimbaud! We're the greatest country on earth!

    We are far behind several other developed countries in areas like this one, and there is no excuse for it except willful ignorance.
     
  12. CometsWin

    CometsWin Breaker Breaker One Nine

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    An excellent example of the need for defunding the police.
     
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  13. LosPollosHermanos

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    i'm still trying to wrap my head around it...they ****ing shot the kid?

    How bad do you have to be at your job to pull a gun out of "fear for your life" on an unarmed kid
     
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  14. arkoe

    arkoe (ง'̀-'́)ง

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    Are paramedics trained to deal with folks dealing with mental health issues? I have never heard of that before if so.
     
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  15. Buck Turgidson

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    I would think it depends, I'll ask my ems buddy in the morning, but I know some deal with it all the time, in Houston.
     
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  16. RayRay10

    RayRay10 Houstonian

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    My oldest had a mental health episode about a year ago where he was having pseudo-seizures and flailing around erratically to the point that we had to forcibly hold him down. We called 911 and they sent out paramedics, who go their first, and a police vehicle showed up after things had calmed down a bit. Paramedics helped talk him through getting shots in his butt to calm him down and then we were able to transport him to the emergency room to get more help. The cops actually never got involved other than asking a few questions afterwards.

    I guess it depends on the mental health episode, but it would seem to me that paramedics are probably more suited to deal with the problem than police officers at this point.
     
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  17. arkoe

    arkoe (ง'̀-'́)ง

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    Thank you for sharing @RayRay10. I agree with you that as far as first responders go paramedics are best suited to address mental health episodes. I just hope that they are trained for such events.
     
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  18. RayRay10

    RayRay10 Houstonian

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    I think that's the issue in our society...no one really is trained for something like that and we put people in that role because we have no one else.

    It's strange, but I remember cartoons about guys in white coats coming to grab you if you had a mental health episode...putting you in a straightjacket and taking you to the "loony bin." While we don't need it to go that far, some kind of response like that would be much better than sending out paramedics or cops that aren't trained specifically for these type of situations.
     
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  19. Nook

    Nook Member

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    Exactly this.......

    WHATEVER IT TAKES.... to get in their car and drive home at the end of the shift. Doesn't matter how shitty they do their job, who's civil rights they violate, who they shoot or injure or who in need they ignore........ as long as that pension vests, the union fees are paid, the checks cash and they are home at night.


    [​IMG]
     
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  20. Nook

    Nook Member

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    He is thirteen years old. If he doesn't have a gun, there is absolutely no reason to shoot him.

    We have too many morons in the USA.... every country has idiots but it is too easy to succeed in the USA if you are a complete moron..... we will give you a gun, a badge...... you can drive heavy machinery...... be a Houston congresswoman or President of the USA.
     
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