14 Children and Teacher Killed in Texas Elementary School Shooting

[unsunghero]

I’ve noticed a cultural shift with police in my job in regards to firearm suicide threats. I mentioned it to the Department of Justice lawyers that interviewed me a few weeks ago. I described it in a neutral, non-accusatory way

Years ago, if someone was barricaded in their home with a gun making suicidal statements, police might not always force entry but they would have a negotiator and their mental health officers remain on that scene until it was resolved as safely as they could

Nowadays, I have been in multiple similar situations with cops around where they will devote a few hours to trying to talk the person down, and then they bail. I’ve had multiple cops now say to us mental health workers still on scene “whatever happens, happens”, as they were leaving

I don’t completely fault the officers for not wanting to risk their life to stop a suicidal person. I only mentioned that years ago they would, or at least wouldn’t just leave them, pack their shit up and go. Maybe it’s a resource issue or a protocol change

But I bet there are much fewer cops who want to be a hero nowadays in regards to saving non-suicidal people, and I think our media’s demonization of them played a role in that. You can tell when you see cops retiring earlier or just quitting