Personal Responsibility
I am currently working the evening shift. When I first became a cop I wanted to work the midnight shift because that was the shift you could catch "real" bad guys on. As happened with a lot of things at the first agency I worked for I didn't get what I wanted. I ended up on evening shift in a part of town I didn't want.
It wasn't all bad though, I fell in love with the evening shift. The biggest problem with evening shift, and it is a big problem, is you never see your family. But as far as work goes it is the shift to be on, of course you will find officers that will disagree. People are out and about, and when people are out and about it means work for me.
Sunday night at around 2300, that's 11:00 pm for those who don't know, I assisted an officer on a call in the nice part of town. In fact it was on a street I had not been on before, but there are lots of streets like that in the nice part of town. The people had called because a neighbor across the street had been threatening them. They gave the officer the guys name and the officer checked to see if he had warrants. Dispatch told the officer the guy was wanted out of a neighboring county.
Once I got there we went and knocked on the neighbors door. The suspects dad answered and then got the suspect. The other officer asked the suspect what was going on and he denied anything had happened. The officer then told the suspect to turn around and place his hands behind his back.
Now things get a little interesting, but not for the reason you might think. He didn't fight with us, although you could tell he thought about it. He got handcuffed and asked for some shoes, no problem we got dad to get him some shoes. Then he tells us he is delusional and needs his medication.
Again this is no big problem. Dad went and got his medication and came back with two bottles, one of which was Lithium and was empty. The other bottle is almost full of another medication. The suspect tells us that he wants to go to the hospital because he is delusional and he has not been taking his medication. He has been out of the Lithium for a while and has just not gotten it refilled and he is just not taking the other medication. This kind of bothers me because he is a patient of a state agency that helps people with mental illness. He then tells us he is suicidal. OK now I have a problem, whose fault is it that he is not taking one of his meds and is out of the other? It sure isn't mine. I find it amazing that all of the sudden this is a big issue for this guy. Actually I don't find it amazing because it happens all the time. We all know he is playing a game now. Before anybody thinks I am heartless for thinking this you need to make sure you read the whole story.
The officer takes him to jail and of course the county refuses to take him. So out to the hospital they go. After several hours at the hospital and the prisoner getting poked and prodded by the medical staff he looks at the officer and says "ok, no more games I am ready to go to jail."
Well by then it was too late. The doctor had decided this guy needed to be committed for a mental evaluation for saying he was suicidal. Now this is not a reason a person can't go to jail, in fact the jail has special holding areas for suicidal people. But then again this guy was not suicidal, by his own admission he was just playing a game with the system.
By this time the officers Sgt. is tired of dealing with this whole fiasco and decides to let the guy go. Our dispatch notified the neighboring county to reissue their warrant and our officer cleared. The subject was released to a deputy to be transported to the state mental hospital for evaluation. For a Peace Officer in Texas to commit someone we have to believe the subject is an imminent threat to himself and/or others, otherwise we need a warrant. He never fit the criteria.
I don't think I ever mentioned what the warrant was for, it was for DWI.
It is a common occurrence at work to come across people with mental illness. It is also a common occurrence to come across people who have been given help but refuse to take it. I guess it proves the old adage that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. Oftentimes these people end up getting into confrontations with the police that leads to criticism of officers. Officers are certainly far from perfect but sometimes people just need to be responsible for their actions.
It wasn't all bad though, I fell in love with the evening shift. The biggest problem with evening shift, and it is a big problem, is you never see your family. But as far as work goes it is the shift to be on, of course you will find officers that will disagree. People are out and about, and when people are out and about it means work for me.
Sunday night at around 2300, that's 11:00 pm for those who don't know, I assisted an officer on a call in the nice part of town. In fact it was on a street I had not been on before, but there are lots of streets like that in the nice part of town. The people had called because a neighbor across the street had been threatening them. They gave the officer the guys name and the officer checked to see if he had warrants. Dispatch told the officer the guy was wanted out of a neighboring county.
Once I got there we went and knocked on the neighbors door. The suspects dad answered and then got the suspect. The other officer asked the suspect what was going on and he denied anything had happened. The officer then told the suspect to turn around and place his hands behind his back.
Now things get a little interesting, but not for the reason you might think. He didn't fight with us, although you could tell he thought about it. He got handcuffed and asked for some shoes, no problem we got dad to get him some shoes. Then he tells us he is delusional and needs his medication.
Again this is no big problem. Dad went and got his medication and came back with two bottles, one of which was Lithium and was empty. The other bottle is almost full of another medication. The suspect tells us that he wants to go to the hospital because he is delusional and he has not been taking his medication. He has been out of the Lithium for a while and has just not gotten it refilled and he is just not taking the other medication. This kind of bothers me because he is a patient of a state agency that helps people with mental illness. He then tells us he is suicidal. OK now I have a problem, whose fault is it that he is not taking one of his meds and is out of the other? It sure isn't mine. I find it amazing that all of the sudden this is a big issue for this guy. Actually I don't find it amazing because it happens all the time. We all know he is playing a game now. Before anybody thinks I am heartless for thinking this you need to make sure you read the whole story.
The officer takes him to jail and of course the county refuses to take him. So out to the hospital they go. After several hours at the hospital and the prisoner getting poked and prodded by the medical staff he looks at the officer and says "ok, no more games I am ready to go to jail."
Well by then it was too late. The doctor had decided this guy needed to be committed for a mental evaluation for saying he was suicidal. Now this is not a reason a person can't go to jail, in fact the jail has special holding areas for suicidal people. But then again this guy was not suicidal, by his own admission he was just playing a game with the system.
By this time the officers Sgt. is tired of dealing with this whole fiasco and decides to let the guy go. Our dispatch notified the neighboring county to reissue their warrant and our officer cleared. The subject was released to a deputy to be transported to the state mental hospital for evaluation. For a Peace Officer in Texas to commit someone we have to believe the subject is an imminent threat to himself and/or others, otherwise we need a warrant. He never fit the criteria.
I don't think I ever mentioned what the warrant was for, it was for DWI.
It is a common occurrence at work to come across people with mental illness. It is also a common occurrence to come across people who have been given help but refuse to take it. I guess it proves the old adage that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. Oftentimes these people end up getting into confrontations with the police that leads to criticism of officers. Officers are certainly far from perfect but sometimes people just need to be responsible for their actions.
posted by TexasCop at 02:39
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