" Jay Auslander of Project Respond mentioned Morgan's claims that he had a knife and 'possibly' a gun. Even if Project Respond had arrived sooner, he said, 'it wouldn't be mental health worker who intervened.' "

This is a crucial bit of information that most publications tend to omit because it does not serve their narrative (*cough* Maxine...). I commend the Merc for including this quotation.

The question raised here, about who should be sent to assist suicidal people, is a valuable one. Cops get sent to assist an incredible number of non-violent people who are in mental crisis. These people are sometimes not particularly happy to see the police at their door; it makes them feel like criminals, which they are not. The fact that the question got no traction on this comment section is telling. It tells me that we have critics to spare, but not that many people are really interested in solving the problem. Keep up the good work, Mercury.