[Mpls] Priorities

[rpgoldman at real-time.com]

>>>>> "MT" == Michael Thompson <mthomps at mninter.net> writes:


    MT> Like it or not, the police do make "split-second" decisions on
    MT> the street when working with the mentally ill.

[...]

    MT> To make this a MPLS issue, look at the case of the Somali man
    MT> a couple of years ago. Completely justified in every way, the
    MT> police in that matter couldn't win for losing (no thanks to
    MT> Mr. Jamal, but he'll be making less of a ruckus in MPLS from
    MT> here on out, I suspect). Anyway, the machete the young Somali
    MT> man was carrying was no less lethal and menacing just because
    MT> it was carried by a mentally ill man. They were forced to act
    MT> and use lethal force.  It's too bad, but what else are the
    MT> cops to do?

Actually, even Michael doesn't do the MPD full justice here.  I was
amazed to hear that there was any protest in this case, since the
Star-Tribune story reported that man who was killed had been tasered
at least twice (either twice or three times), to no effect, before he
was shot.  And I saw the photograph of the machete (2' long) in the
paper, which made me sympathize with the officers in question even
more.

Maybe society should have served this person better in terms of mental
health care, but it sure seemed to me on the basis of newspaper
coverage, that the MPD tried hard to avoid lethal force in this case.

This was a no-win case for the MPD.






-- 

Robert P. Goldman
ECCO
rpgoldman at real-time.com