Counseling/Mental Health May 24, 2017 at 4:00 am

Some See That As Cause for Concern in a City That’s Seen Past Tragedy

Comments

1
The easy solution is for staff is to stop calling police. They are the experts, right? They should use their expertise, de-escalate, and leave the cops out of it. If things have gotten so bad that staff can't handle it and need to call the cops, maybe staff should admit they have no idea how to fix the problem and let the people they called to fix the problem fix the problem.
2
I agree, bridger. If it's a situation that's escalated past Unity's ability to handle, they should not dictate what happens next as they can't implement what happens next.

However, these are professional mental health caregivers and their concerns for their patients' safety are pretty valid. PPB has an atrocious track record with excessive use of force and outright killing of mentally unstable citizens. They are doing tons of training and are improving, but still have a long ways to go to get to a trustworthy status.

Why not hire private security? Plain clothes, no visible weapons? Onsite protocols and training to minimize violent conflict. It might feel helpful to staff if they have that backup as a reassurance to their own safety as well.
3
Police officers are not trained to recognize or deal with mentally ill subjects. They are trained to suppress the immediate threat. So, if you call police, expect for them to suppress the threat any which way they can.... including the use of deadly force.
4
What delicate snowflakes our police have become. Cowards.
5
It seems like nowadays police everywhere, not just Portland, think their job should be risk-free. The speed at which officers draw their guns when they feel "threatened" is ridiculous. Did they become police to serve, or to have permission to beat down without restraint anyone who offers any type of resistance. Shoot first, ask questions later continues to be the plan of the day. Shameful!

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