- cross-posted to:
- thepoliceproblem@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- thepoliceproblem@lemmy.world
Less than 10 seconds after officers opened the door, police shot Yong Yang in his parentsā Koreatown home while he was holding a knife during a bipolar episode.
Parents in Los Angelesā Koreatown called for mental health help in the middle of their sonās bipolar episode this month. Clinical personnel showed up ā and so did police shortly after.
PoliceĀ fatally shotĀ Yong Yang, 40, who had a knife in his hand, less than 10 seconds after officers opened the door to his parentsā apartment where he had locked himself in, newly releasedĀ bodycam videoĀ 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 clinicianās saying Yang was violent before the shooting on May 2.
Sure, OK, you have found a corner case. Bravo, I guess? We can pretend I was using the modern definition of the word āliterally.ā š
It doesnāt change the overall point.
Hereās a hypothetical for you, which is far more likely than your own for an autistic kid. My son doesnāt even have the concept of holding someone hostage, and I venture to guess this is true for lots of others on the spectrum.
Letās say he has a knife in his hand because thatās what he happened to have in his hand (somehow) when his fight or flight mechanism was triggered, and now heās massively overstimulated, and in a meltdown. Heās not trying to hurt anyone (Iām not convinced he knows stabbing someone is an option a knife provides), but heās waving it around because he is very active with his arms when heās overstimulated, and he might even try to grapple with someone while holding it, again not really recognizing the potential for great harm. Itās going to be a real challenge to get it from him safely, and someone could get badly injured.
Do I call the cops in that circumstance? Not if I want to see him sans-bulletholes again. (Not a direct example of what I described, but close enough for these purposes.)
Edited to add - I read the story in OP, or I read about Linden Cameron, or I read about Elijah McClain (and others) and thatās my son there, or may as well be. Elijah McClain especially - heartbreaking. Nothing about any of those circumstances seems like an outcome I couldnāt imagine with any given group of police. I have no faith that more than a vanishingly small percentage would even see the problem with how these situations were handled, let alone try to do it differently.
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I kinda took it as a bit of a strawman, even if unintentional. Thatās why I contrasted with a more reasonable one.
I appreciate that your intent is not to defend police regarding OP or in general. However, as I said elsewhere, are there actually other circumstances where Iād call police? Probably. My original statement was (slightly) hyperbolic.
However, is it MY fault that I need to do this calculus about whether the folks paid to help might kill my child instead? No, itās not, and I wonāt apologize for it.
Police have earned their reputation.
If I canāt count on them to help without killing me or people I love needlessly, Iām not going to call them. I would think anyone, even a cop, would understand this fundamental requirement.
Iām sorry for the sad ending to your story, but glad that there were opportunities for joy along the way. These situations are tough, I get it.