What about that old lady who was topless & came at some cop with a meat clever??? This happened within just two months ago, in Portland area. Yet, that incident ended with NOONE being DEAD. How were things different in that case?

Budget Cuts, Budget Cuts! Root of all ills facing Portland, or is it? Question: How many mentally ill people in Portland have suddenly found themselves without psychiatric care due to the actions of the Oregon Medical Board? Actions based on complaints, not budget cuts, actions that remove doctors from their patients BEFORE the doctors have been given due process to defend themselves? Actions that result in stable, and not so stable, patients calling their mental health care provider, only to find a message on the phone that their help is currently, suddenly, and for an undetermined time (possibly forever) unavailable. If a patient is lucky, they may find a listing of other providers recorded for them in that life altering phone message. The process of transitioning to another mental health care specialist is, for the abandoned feeling patient, daunting at best, time consuming and full of rejection to say the least, and down right impossible for those on the cusp.

So, money is running out for the mentally ill, but the system was broken even before the budget became the new scapegoat. All patients have a right to continuity of care. Also, let us not forget, the medical board that removes doctors from their patients is the same board that licenses these doctors in the first place. So, who is responsible?

If I were a member of the Portland Police Department, I'd want the Oregon Medical Board to explain how they can believe that they are acting in the best interests of patients, doctors, and the citizens of our community, when their actions cause hundreds of patients to lose care so abruptly. Do they not read the newspapers? Do they not know that our officers, already overburdened, clearly can not handle the mess of the mentally ill population, a mess that the medical board itself has, in good part, caused?

What alternative "tactics" do you suggest? Dan Handelman would like to see the cops run away from a machete-wielding man who has already acted out violently against his own family. Does Dan understand the cops were not only protecting themselves, but protecting the family members from further harm and protecting innocent bystanders (neighbors) from this menace? I can see it now...the cops out in front of my house playing Ring-Around-the-Rosie with an armed, mentally unstable individual. "Run away! Run away!"

Yeah, that oughta work...until the cops refuse to engage/confront an armed individual and that person then hurts or kills someone else - AFTER the cops failed to take action (a new tactic we'll call the "Handelman Hold-Back" or the "Handelman Tactical Runaway"). No thanks, Dan. When I call 9-1-1 because someone (mental issues or not) is trying to hurt or kill me, I want the cops to come and protect me - RIGHT NOW - not stand back 1/2 mile and take 30 minutes to come up with contingency plans for every conceivable course of action the suspect might take.

Spoken like a true cop-lover. Alas, multiple heavily-arms pigs against one man with a mechete really does seem like a mis-match.