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LAST GASP: Live From Manhattan Avenue, Part II
(Or: Special Delivery)
As some of you have probably noticed earlier today I posted footage of a man who decided to sit in the middle of the street and block traffic. Well, shortly thereafter I noticed a couple of NYPD patrol cars canvassing the area. I am pleased to announce that as of 7:00 p.m. they got their man! Sort of.
I do not post this footage with the intent of criticizing the 94th Precinct. They have a job to do— and regrettably handling individuals who are clearly mentally ill has become one of their responsibilities. Rather, I have to wonder about the effectiveness of a rehabilitation facility— one which is funded in part by our tax dollars, I’ll add— when someone under their care requires a police motorcade to get back home. Clearly whatever this facility is doing is not working— and sadly it is probably only a matter of time before this man gets hurt.
Comments
5 Comments on LAST GASP: Live From Manhattan Avenue, Part II
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Peter on
Mon, 29th Aug 2011 7:48 pm
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missheather on
Mon, 29th Aug 2011 7:56 pm
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SpillConspirator on
Mon, 29th Aug 2011 9:30 pm
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missheather on
Mon, 29th Aug 2011 9:36 pm
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Peter on
Mon, 29th Aug 2011 10:20 pm
Given the physical UNfitness of most of the NYPD, if he had violently resisted arrest at least five cops would have gone off duty with injuries.
I’m not joking. One little-known factoid about the JFK assassination is that three Dallas cops required medical treatment for injuries sustained while subduing Lee Harvey Oswald, who weighed all of 135 pounds.
What I do not get is why they did not have him placed under psychiatric supervision. It is very clear this man is seriously mentally ill and needs help. Help he is NOT getting from this facility. He is not simply a danger to others but also to himself.
Rikers Island is slowly becoming a jail for the mentally ill. These mentally ill people are put into various types of poorly funded treatment facilities that don’t work, until they must be admitted into hospitals on an emergency basis. The hospitals, in turn don’t keep those patients very long. Either they are discharged way too soon or someone does get hurt. Many of them end up in jail that way. Happened to my nephew. He’s served over a year in prison so far, after being arrested in a hospital pysh ward. It just doesn’t make sense. The system, in my opinion is degrading to a Willowbrook type of system. Hidden from public view.
400 McGuiness is going to be part of that ill system. My own nephew will be discharged at some point and be sent to such a facility. Something for Greenpointers to think about.
@SC: Exactly. What’s more, exactly how is a person with emotional/mental problems going to get any better co-habitating hardened criminals? Clearly the “system” we have in place does not work. It is, however, very lucrative for folks like the person operating this facility. It’s all about business, not helping people. This man and our community end up paying the price.
It would be unthinkable today to return to the old system, under which the mentally ill were hauled off to state hospitals and kept there indefinitely.
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