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We’re Out of Therapists, Send in the Gunfighter
Some Illinois lawmakers want to give extra money to schools that replace armed security officers with unarmed social workers and behavior therapists, an approach to safety that’s far different than a national push to add police or arm teachers after a mass shooting at a Florida high school.
Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, a Hillside Democrat, said he proposed the plan after hearing from advocates who argue that investing in mental health resources is the best way of treating the epidemic of violence.
The Santa Fe High School shooter was engaged within four minutes, and the gun battle according to the latest reports lasted about 25 minutes.* You’re going to need a lot of therapists, at least enough of them that can hold on for 26 minutes. I’ve seen some articles that say having an armed officer, or that officers weren’t the solution because the shooter still killed students. I’d hate to think about what the shooter could have done if he hadn’t had to spend that 25 minutes engaged with police officers.
Once someone starts planning to kill his fellow students, brings two firearms, and explosives to school we have moved beyond therapists as a solution to the immediate problem.
I hope that legislators have good health care plans that include hernia treatment. Trying to hold up both ends of this type of discussion is definitely a hernia risk.
* The final report and timeline of the investigation have not been finalized, this information came from a law enforcement officer from the Santa Fe area in a television interview.
Published in Policing
I was looking for the satire tag.
Nope. They are serious. This is real.
Looks like papouli* is going to have to homeschool his grandkids. Worked well enough with my kids. I don’t think they will object if I volunteer.
* Greek for grandfather
Whatever happened to embracing the power of “and?”
Can’t we do both?
The treatment of, and the will to do something about and help, the mentally ill in this country is a national disgrace (Full disclosure: I speak from experience. Full disclosure: It’s just as bad in my native land).
And, with the best will in the world, when seconds count, the social workers will only be minutes away.
Can’t we do both?
That might work, that is why we cannot do both. If you solve a problem, you cannot use it as a rallying point for what you want.
The idea of replacing armed security with social workers (as a universal program) reminds me of the bumper stickers, “Violence is not the answer.” To which I respond, “Depends on the question. If the question is ‘I’m pounding on this other person,’ then the most appropriate answer at that moment is a substantial application of violence against the assailant. Anything less is very unloving toward the person getting pounded on.” Failing to recognize that there are times when a violent response is necessary displays ignorance of a very high degree.
I agree that we, the corporate we if you like, have ignored the mentally ill. Somehow if they’re holed up in a cardboard box and freezing to death in the winter that is somehow better than a civil commitment where they could receive an evaluation, and the proper medication to try and make life somewhat livable. Like eating on a regular basis. Will that work in every case, maybe not, but it is the successes that count, not the failures.
I’ve been there on the street, and as a former police officer I was pretty good at assessing someone’s potential for future violence. When I fought with someone I never thought to myself; Oh boy, I wish I had a therapist with me.
This is Illinois; we are broke. There is no money left in taxpayers’ pockets.
A couple of interesting notes: the school resource officer in Dixon, IL who stopped the shooting was a position apparently initially funded by a Federal grant in part to use community policing to reduce school violence. Must be the only Federal program with a proven track record of success at throwing money at a problem. However, the COPS program isn’t granting anyone monies at this time because Rahm Emmanuel is suing the Justice Department over not giving grant money to sanctuary cities. No one wonders why people are fleeing Illinois.
Chris Welch’s district of Hillside is known for two things. One is a tortuous junction of interstate highways that was referred to as the “Hillside strangler.” Second–Hillside is the final resting place of Al Capone. Coincidence?
There is an interesting blog entry by Assistant Village Idiot called Irrelevant. He talks about going to a conference years ago
“I paraphrase: Our first objective, perhaps our only objective, is the ongoing protection of society. Obtaining justice such that the victims, and society at large, feel satisfied is nice, but it is secondary to us. Treating and rehabilitating the patient is even less important, though that is our job in the system. Safety comes first, and should be guiding our decisions during every phase of treatment.”……….
………During the Q&A, someone asked about allowing offenders in programs access to pornography, which at the time meant magazines. It was controversial, because of the Encouragement to Offend versus Safety Valve debate. The speaker shrugged. It might have a minor bad effect, on some people, so I’d probably discourage it if it were my program. But I’d let one of my guys have a whole stack of magazines before I let him have even a single can of beer. ……….
……………All of this the long way around to talk about gun laws.
“I don’t think people should be allowed to own guns whose only purpose is to kill large numbers of people.” Irrelevant. Show me the safety with Law A and without Law A………….”
I thought the post was very good, and if you can read it.
http://assistantvillageidiot.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2018-04-01T04:23:00-04:00&max-results=20&start=60&by-date=false
I assumed that this was mere trolling of people who maintain that guns are not the problem, but in general it is a bad idea to overestimate the acumen of the average member of the Illinois state legislature. (Present company of course excepted, @illiniguy.)
Face plant onto keyboard – and wasn’t even skiing (because facepalm cannot express the stupidity of the legislators and their proposal). Percival, you’re right. What idiots. Extra money to schools to replace armed security officers with unarmed social workers and behavior therapists. (Couldn’t they bend a little and arm the therapists? :-) :-)
And my parents.
It’s known as the West Side Story strategy.
Yeah. Krup them.
So these therapists would form a sort of meat shield to protect the students until the shooter runs out of bullets? Awfully nice of them.
“The Bible is clear here: I am to love my neighbor as myself, in the manner needed, in a practical way, in the midst of the fallen world, at my particular point of history. This is why I am not a pacifist. Pacifism in this poor world in which we live – this lost world – means that we desert the people who need our greatest help. What if you come upon a big, burly man beating a tiny tot to death and plead with him to stop? Suppose he refuses? What does love mean now? Love means that I stop him in any way I can, including hitting him. To me this is not only necessary for humanitarian reasons: it is loyalty to Christ’s commands concerning Christian love in a fallen world. What about the little girl? If I desert her to the bully, I have deserted the true meaning of Christian love – responsibility to my neighbor.” – Francis Schaeffer
The title of the OP is worth the price of admission alone
Double posting.
Didn’t we already agree that it was the therapists who caused this problem to begin with?
You know how to spell ADHD? B.O.Y., that’s how. This is feminism’s war on the Y chromosone. Nothing more.
The classic – briefs really well, makes everyone feel good right up to the point that you hear gunfire then the monumental mistake made becomes crystal clear and the heart stopping reality that it’s too late to do anything about it.
The breakdown of the family is profitable for the Minnesota teachers union. Education Minnesota has all kinds of plans for social workers, therapists, cops (WHOOPS, THAT’S BAD NOW LOL) three hot meals a day, in addition to the welfare check they get at home for some reason. They want some schools to have job centers for the parents.
You can’t get one Democrat to explain to you why extra school meals aren’t redundant with welfare money. It’s nuts.
A friend and I have joked that should an active shooter appear in the church that we used to attend, everyone would immediately crawl away from the “guns are always bad” pastor to the retired sheriff’s deputy who’s known to usually carry his pistol.