true, but in inpatient settings they have tools at their disposal and a context supporting safety that you lack. they have - locked doors, lots of people who can be summoned, people trained to restrain, injectable medication. probably other stuff i'm not thinking about. there's likely also an increased understanding of that person's issues, level of risk, and current medication and sobriety. even several hours of observation plus a secure environment gives staffers an advantage police lack.

so i work in mental health. it is very likely that i will have to call police on a client at some point. i have training that works well in some circumstances, but there are limits. i have, in fact, been one of the people here on lemmy that has pointed out people working with others with mental illness and disability manage things without guns.

i think police need training to work with people like this and to de-escalate in general. i think i lot of them need treatment for their own PTSD. i think they fucked up here.

but i don't think it's realistic either to think that they can, in practice, handle things the same way a nurse with many years of experience and additional tools can. and i would also point out that many social workers (not my profession but related, just the last field i saw stats on) have been assaulted by their clients.

i think the parents could have handled it better. i think it's possible cultural attitudes toward mental illness or other factors unique to the family played a part in their decision-making.

and as another parent of a person with developmental disability (plus serious mental illness), i think it is wise to prepare yourself and your child for how you might handle circumstances in which you or someone else needs to call for help. i don't think it is safest for your child or for you (or others, obviously) for you to refuse to call until there is a body.

but i also understand that your experience and your child are not the same as mine.

i just wish the cops hadn't fucked up, and i wish the family had done it differently. for all the good that does.

edit - extra words, a wrong word