A rare post from Brad

Last week Portland police Chief Mike Reese visited my work and talked about the recent police-involved shootings in Portland. He talked about how the frequency with which police encounter the mentally ill has increased exponentially in recent years. Because of the erosion of our state’s mental health system over the last decade, the first person these individuals come in contact with is often the police.

As a reaction to this trend, they have assigned officers to work proactively to identify individuals who are mentally ill and have had frequent police contact, and assist them in obtaining treatment. Typically these individuals are medicating themselves with substances other than those prescribed for their condition, and are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. He expressed frustration over the fact that often the treatment resources are not available for these individuals.

This morning I read an article on NPR that echoed the comments I heard from Chief Reese the week before the Arizona shooting.

Robert Bernstein, executive director at Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law:

“’Many people who find themselves under pressure don't get services,’ Bernstein said. ‘What has happened around the country is that for decades, mental health has been underfunded, and instead of funding services early on and averting crisis, we as a nation have invested money in emergency room care and jails and prisons.’In fact, the vast majority of people with mental illness are not in community treatment centers. According to the Justice Department, 24 percent of the nation's jail inmates and 16 percent of prison inmates have a mental disorder, a number that has increased threefold over the past 30 years. According to the numbers, the largest single mental health provider in the country is the Los Angeles County jail.”

These opinions from professionals stand in stark contrast to those of Sarah Palin, who claims that we as a society have no responsibility for prevention of these types of events:

"Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively with all the citizens of a state, not with those who listen to talk radio, not with maps of swing districts used by both sides of the aisle, not with law-abiding citizens who respectfully exercise their First Amendment rights at campaign rallies, not with those who proudly voted in the last election."

State Rep. Jack Harper, R-Surprise AZ, "When everyone is carrying a firearm, nobody is going to be a victim."

Andrew Arulanandam, NRA spokesman, "At this time anything other than prayers for the victims and their families would be inappropriate."

I think this is a fair summary of Palin, Harper, and the NRA’s take on how we should deal with criminals and the mentally ill:

Step 1: Eliminate all government funded social safety nets
Step 2: Arm everyone
Step 3: Wait for the most desperate person to draw first
Step 4: Everyone else gun them down

It’s no wonder NRA members are the most paranoid people in America! If that’s the type of society we are working to create, I’ll be fighting to the death for my right to bear arms too!

Personally, I think Chief Reese and Mr. Bernstein might have some better ideas for avoiding such violent confrontations such as addressing the root cause of these problems before things escalate. Contrary to Sarah Palin’s opinion, we as a society do bear some responsibility for these events.

Referenced news articles:

Robert Bernstein’s comments:
http://www.npr.org/2011/01/12/132845483/a-missed-chance-to-intervene-in-tucson?ft=1&f=1001

Harper and the NRA’s comments:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/01/10/20110110arizona-shooting-gun-politics-rhetoric.html#ixzz1AgVKH2kP

http://adage.com/article?article_id=148148

Sarah Palin’s response to the Arizona shootings:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/01/12/132856601/palin-its-irresponsible-to-apportion-blame-for-arizona-rampage?ft=1&f=1001