Jennings ingested 60 pills in a suicide attempt, but was taken by police to a local hospital and survived. Only three hours after checking out of the hospital on Saturday, Jennings walked to the hardware store. [ where police shot at 16 bullets at him, shortly after, pronounced dead at the local hospital.]
They knew him,” Smith told the Kansas City Star. “They dealt with him the day before. He was suicidal. He had only been out of the [psychiatric] hospital for three hours when they shot him. I was screaming at the top by lungs, ‘That’s Joseph Jennings! You know him, don’t shoot him!'”
For Full Story: Kansas Police Kill Suicidal Teen, Stopped Family From Helping (Video)
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This is in the midst of Mike Brown and daily occurrences of police violence yet no justice. Where is justice? No arrests…what is going to happen to those residents once the press leaves #Ferguson?
Judgment is impaired…something is wrong! This makes no sense. I believe the victims!
There are too many to ignore… WE NEED INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY. Sanctions against our government until they #HandsUp and surrender to the will of the people.
Kansas Police Shoot, Kill Suicidal Teen
I imagine it’s like living in the middle of a nightmare. But you probably need to take care of your mind and emotions – in order to start analyzing, looking for roots of problems, aiming for creative solutions. If you stay focused on the fucking awfulness of it all, despair and violence will dominate. One night I was watching coverage of Ferguson, and one of the interviewees was a chief of police in another state, who spoke of more civilized ways of handling issues in a community — he clearly disapproved of how Ferguson & Missouri were handling things. I felt briefly hopeful…..
He was referring to a return to anglo-values and eliminating black people….He disagreed w/ stopping the curfew. I believe that is the same one from the notorious neighboring state.
Oh….we need more people covering, writing and sharing these stories.
If no one knows……they did not happen. The more we continue to share the stories the more awareness to the growing problem, a problem of organized crime like you have never seen.
Similar to Justina Pelletier, many people were clueless and remained so throughout her ordeal.
It is hard, and it is a nightmare…scary….I feel like running for the hills but there is no where to hide.
With cops like that, who needs to contemplate suicide? For this epidemic to go away, the authorities need to acknowledge that there is a problem to begin with, but the symbiotic relationship between on one hand, Judges and Prosecutors, and on the other, the cops who bring them their cases, it will not be easy. I also think that no police agency should be allowed to investigate their own shootings.
Hi Onno,
Correct and on target as usual. Insane! Amazing the elaborate rationalizations used by police officers that touch upon the practice of psychology. Still, does not provide cops w/ my any authority to make medical decisions, shoot an acutely suicidal patient not once but multiple multiple multiple times.
Police spend more time learning how to con the public than ‘serve and protect.’
Did you hear The Mental Health Commission of Canada released a report regarding more training of cops because cops are increasingly the first line of contact. A good blueprint and start.
I believe in the necessity of understanding why this is happening before we create solutions and policies.
Here in the USA, the war on drugs sounded good and looked what happened: it led to racial profiling w/ stops and imprisonment of innocent black and brown people. Then came The Patriot Act after 911, Americans in fear of terrorists eagerly handed over ‘limited’ individual rights to the government in the name of American safety. Ironically, today American freedom and safety are not being jeopardized by terrorist but state and local governments–their police departments, prosecutor and judges.
American police in Ferguson and NYC (NYPD) committed inhumane cruelties against its citizens of color.
Report recommends more police training for dealing with mentally ill
Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/report-recommends-more-police-training-for-dealing-with-mentally-ill-1.1978377#ixzz3BjMfQ5we
Another good article that touches on the complexity of mental illness and the delivery of effective care.
The Complexity of Closing Gaps in Canada’s Mental Health Care System
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/karen-r-cohen/mental-health-cpa_b_5715519.html
Onno, what would you do to bring about change in police culture?