Salt Lake City - Police shot 13 year old with autism

Source (example):

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/us/salt-lake-city-autism-shooting.html

And again an issue of lousy trained US Police Officers having a very loose finger on the trigger of their guns ...

Golda Barton told KUTV she called 911 to request a crisis intervention team because her son, who has Asperger’s syndrome, was having an episode caused by “bad separation anxiety” as his mother went to work for the first time in more than a year.

“I said, ‘He’s unarmed, he doesn’t have anything, he just gets mad and he starts yelling and screaming,’” she said. “He’s a kid, he’s trying to get attention, he doesn’t know how to regulate.”
She added: “They’re supposed to come out and be able to de-escalate a situation using the most minimal force possible.”

Instead, she said, two officers went through the front door of the home and in less than five minutes were yelling “get down on the ground” before firing several shots.

“He’s a small child,” she said. “Why didn’t you just tackle him? He’s a baby. He has mental issues.”

2 Police offivers vs an unarmed 13 year old mental ill teenager and they see no other way as to shot? Come on ....

 

There must be some mistake. This is a white kid and we know that police only shoot blacks.

Or could it be that police reform is needed for reasons other than BLM?

I know this is crazy talk and we shouldn’t dilute singular black victimization to other groups undeserving of it.

 

If you need a therapist, don't call the police.

 

Unfortunately, similar stories are all too common in this country.

The current snail-mail issue of REASON Magazine is totally devoting to "Fix the Police", and at the top of their list for improvements is abolishment of the current sophistry known as "qualified immunity".

 

The police are not your private therapist force.

 

Tell that to the 911 dispatchers.

 

They already know that. It's the dumbasses who keep calling the police instead of handling their children who are the problem. In this case, they were told he was violent and had a weapon.

 

How did she handle his other "episodes" in the past?

 

I want more detail, how many times have we had a story which portrays the police in a bad light only for us to find out that they were actually wholly justified? God, aren't you sickened by people who beg the police for help because they can't handle their insane loved ones and then whine when they do what's necessary.

 

This was her mistake. If you don't want the police to shoot your son, don't call the cops on him.

 

I wasn't aware that 911 was only for calling the police. I'll remember that the next time there's a fire or medical emergency.
/sarcasm

 

Are you kidding?
Since when is the police not there to help citizens who need help, eh?

 

Of course, more information is important ... but in general:
Why do 2 police officers have to shoot an unarmed 13-year-old teenager in an apartment?

So 911 is the hotline number for ordering state Assassination?

 

Yes. That and if you want to make most situations worse. I was a volunteer child abuse advocate and, therefore, a mandated reporter. I did everything I could to NOT have to call the police. I am a former LEO from a long line of LEOs and can think of only a handful of times the cops didn't make matters worse.

 

I lived in Salt Lake City for about a year and it seemed like they have decent social services so I don’t understand why they weren’t called.

 

He was white so no one cares...

 

"Golda Barton told KUTV she called 911 to request a crisis intervention team"

 

Seems to me people ought to be able to call an emergency services number without the fear that it’s going to result in someone being shot.

 

I think the salient point here is that you should be able to call for emergency help without necessarily calling the police, but there is only one number to call, and they are going to send police no matter what because if they dont and they should've its an instant mega lawsuit against the local govt.

As I've been saying, this hole thing boils down to liability mitigation gone berzerk.

 

This is happening again and again in the States. People call out the police because of a difficulty with some one with mental health issues, in this case autism and they end up dead. It is apparently due to the police having lots of training to kill but none in how to deal with mental health issues. There is a call for either the police to be given proper training on how to deal with people in this situation or for people in this category to not be dealt with by the police but by mental health professionals.

 

Fair point. You don’t want to end up wishing that the police were there once all is said and done. Would certainly help for them to have social workers/mental health experts at the scene to advise. Maybe departments need to look at hiring these individuals if a separate service isn’t created outright.

 

I see now the issue is not that people call out the police but that they call out the only number they have for emergencies and that is who is sent even when it is someone with severe mental health issues.

 

In this case and others, yes, but it is also a problem we have that people call for emergency services when the only emergency is that they either need to be more emotionally mature and/or start minding their own business.

 

Salt Lake PD have body cams. Perhaps we should withhold judgement until it is released and might better understand what transpired and why a police officer felt the need to use their weapon. When do we suppose that BLM will descend on Salt lake?

 

or possibly know what happens when they do call! I think the ideas I have heard of either giving some police special training so that they can deal with people with these issues or no longer give them to the police but arrange for experts in this field to deal with these people sounds like a good idea. It seems this woman was given wrong information by someone.

and while I appreciate her desire to get to work, possibly even to get a break it could be argued that she should have looked into this a bit more deeply first and arranged for suitable help if need be. If someone did tell her that was all she needed to do and that they would de-escalate with the minimun force necessary then she was given wrong information and that too needs investigation. Of course if it was just a friend not much to be done but if it was a professional, they were not being honest - or maybe they were. I have heard of several similar things happening in the US but I do not know how often this happens. It may be that most Police do deal with things well...but without training that would possibly in some situations and with police of the wrong termperment, be very difficult.