Parents called for mental health help. Police arrived and fatally shot their son.
Parents called for mental health help. Police arrived and fatally shot their son.
Less than 10 seconds after officers opened the door, police shot Yong Yang in his parents’ Koreatown home while he was holding a knife during a bipolar episode.
Less than 10 seconds after officers opened the door, police shot Yong Yang in his parents’ Koreatown home while he was holding a knife during a bipolar episode.
Parents in Los Angeles’ Koreatown called for mental health help in the middle of their son’s bipolar episode this month. Clinical personnel showed up — and so did police shortly after.
Police fatally shot Yong Yang, 40, who had a knife in his hand, less than 10 seconds after officers opened the door to his parents’ apartment where he had locked himself in, newly released bodycam video shows.
Now the parents of Yang, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder around 15 years ago, have told NBC News exclusively that they are disputing part of the account captured on bodycam, in which police recount a clinician’s saying Yang was violent before the shooting on May 2.
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do not call the police. many countries outside the united states understand this already
Uhm, in Germany it's completely normal for police to assist in situations of mental health and instead of shooting them they talk to them, or, as a last resort, restrain people and bring them back to a care facility, unharmed.
Police receive proper 3 year training and most of them even have a required university degree.
Police receive proper 3 year training
Pretty sure that's 6 weeks in the US.
6 weeks of teaching them to shoot first I assume.
I honestly wouldn't be surprised.
The training is the difference.
this is the way. there is a place for policing in society, and it should be composed of highly trained, educated professionals held to a high standard.
While the cops in Germany are a lot better trained and won't kill you or harm you, many are still on power trips and try to screw you over. Some abuse their authority especially towards teens and they try to fine you if you're an adult. Society needs that job, but man I rarely hear about good encounters with police. I feel like older people had a better experience with cops and younger people in Germany like the police a lot less, but I could be wrong.
You're definitely right, it's still a place where people with fantasies of power end up. It's not all just sunshine and the media might be biased but compared to some countries it's still a pretty high standard which should be the minimum in the US as well.
It's normal practice in the UK for police to aid the handling of mentally unstable people. The difference is that British police don't shoot people. Ever.
The US only has 911 for emergencies AFAIK, who else would you call? Of course, police is basically useless here as opposed to an ambulance, particularly in the US when they know little more than brute force, but IDK how much say you have in what service they dispatch.
We have separate numbers for each service other than the central Europe-wide 112, and they are free unless misuse happens. A boarding school roommate had a mental health breakdown so severe an ambulance was called, with actual trauma-trained doctors who provided basic psychiatric treatment (sedation pills and further care advice to dormkeepers). So an ambulance is helpful for mental health crises but I cannot imagine cops helping in any way in this case - they have restraint tools that might thwart violence or suicide attempts but this situation did not need them, and a doctor on the phone (which you get immediately) can help with everything else better than the police anyway.
Just fyi, 112 is normally a GSM standard emergency number and should work anywhere in the world on a GSM network. (In theory, so always worth a try in case of need)
A boarding school roommate had a mental health breakdown so severe an ambulance was called, with actual trauma-trained doctors who provided basic psychiatric treatment (sedation pills and further care advice to dormkeepers).
Holy shit. PTSD from suicide attempts is common, at least in the US they send in the fucking cops! You’re having the worst experience in your life, and the first thing you see is a condescending prick putting you in handcuffs. I’ve had teens I care deeply about subject themselves to this experience, and it makes things significantly worse. I feel like my life would have been improved by having that experience.
988 - the mental health hotline that is supposed to be the alternative to 911 - will call the cops too. There’s no winning.
Edit: I can suggest the Trans Lifeline, and suggest other people look to warm lines, to be a little less nihilistic. They will not involve emergency services without your consent. Unfortunately, hours/availability are limited for most.
Eh no?
Most counties outside the US have actual police forces which are there to serve and protect.
Your Euro-centric bias is showing.
Uh huh, and that is bad because? Because I know it can actually work well?
Maybe in Europe. SA, Africa, Asia, Indonesia probably not so much.