Jonah Neal, 25, had a handgun and was threatening suicide. Instead of local police, federal agents arrived at her doorstep. Within minutes of entering her home, a special agent had shot her son, Neal said. It would be hours before she found out her son was dead, she added.
The agent was with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which operates under Immigration and Customs Enforcement. HSI was sent to Memphis as part of a crime-fighting task force composed of roughly 350 federal agents and 1,450 members of the Tennessee National Guard, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. It began last fall at the direction of President Trump and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.
At least five people — including Jonah Neal in May — have been shot by a member of the Memphis Safe Task Force. …
…
In its only press release regarding Jonah Neal’s death, which was released in May, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) said members of the task force encountered him “with multiple weapons inside the residence.” The TBI added, “At this time, it is not immediately clear whether Neal died as a result of the agent firing upon him or if it was self-inflicted stab wounds.”
In their first public interview since Jonah Neal died, his mother and his grandmother, Cindy Leachman Aldridge, told NPR it’s difficult to believe that a gunshot did not play a role in his death. They are asking to see any body-camera footage from that night.
If a loved one was threatening suicide, the last people I would call are the police. It seems like involving the police only increases the chances of your loved one dying.
Especially if those police that turn up are ICE agents
I totally agree, but a lot of people don’t understand the function of the police. I feel bad that they called people they thought would help and this is the position they ended up in. This is a great example of why we need to fund different types of first responders.
Absolutely.
I work in 911 dispatch, I like to think I have my head on more or less straight, but a lot of my coworkers are bootlickers
A few years ago when the BLM protests were in full swing and there was a lot of “defund the police” talk going around. I remember one of my coworkers was complaining about that
I pointed out how many fucking calls we get for things that aren’t police issues that we end up having to send cops out to because that’s basically the only tool in our box, and how if we funded some of those instead of the police it would free them (and us) up to handle actual emergencies
Of course basically none of them wanted to hear that.
And it’s not just mental health issues, it’s animal control, road and utilities maintenance, legal advice, code enforcement, homeless outreach, non-emergency healthcare, etc.
Hell, half of the “disturbances” (fights) I get are just verbal arguments between two emotionally-stunted adults who really need a middle school guidance counselor to go out and tell them to take a couple deep breaths and use their fucking inside voices.
And I would love to be able to hook people up with some of those services instead of sending a couple armed cops out to not really do anything useful about the problem.
And instead it seems like half the departments in my county have built a new police station since then.
I think I heard it best said thus; When you see a situation, like an unhoused person having a mental health crisis, ask yourself is a 25 year-old with a gun and little training beyond using the gun really the best that we can do for this situation?
I’m really excited that Durham where I live has a new program called HEART where you can dispatch non-police first responders. One time I was at a library down town and someone came in from one of the rent controlled housing areas down the street and asked them to call someone, or call 911, and they said “do you want us to call police, or call HEART?” So the person said HEART and someone came and talked with them about what was going on
I don’t know what they were dealing with or what they needed help with, but it makes me happy that there are more tools in our community’s toolbox now, because when all you have is a man with a gun, every social issue looks like criminals doing something nefarious who you must shoot. We need people who can engage with the social issues folks are facing
You can call your local fire station and they will come out and help.
the problem is they don’t call the police. they call 911. in a sudden emergency where you don’t have time to look up an approriate help thing you call 911. there is 311 but they are just geared for information and are not ready to send somone right away. This is why so many cities are looking to replace many police calls with people trained to be interveners. The defund the police thing gets some people hot under the collar but most people who really know get that its more about shifting some of their work and funding to an agency that is better setup to handle non criminal matters.
They get fucking retarded as soon as there is mention of a firearm. I get they have to be alert but fucking calm down.
ACAB