"Keep up the good work on mental health issues" by SFOP/PIA members: Monica Olsen, Gloria Stofan, Ellen Hage, Barbara Erbacher, Delia McGrath, Carolyn Jaramillo
"Editor: This was an open letter sent to Pacifica Chief of Police Dan Steidle.
In
the aftermath of the tragic death of Errol Chang and subsequent
conversations with you about the need for mental health professionals to
assist peace officers in dealing with persons suffering mental illness,
we would like to express our gratitude and congratulations for your
handling of a recent case of a mentally ill man in Pacifica.
He has
been known to many in the community which makes his illness dismayingly
tragic.
We learned that the officers who responded were accompanied by
mental health professionals. His non-violent committal was a gift to his
beloved family and neighborhood.
This approach has been urged by
Council Member Mary Ann Nihart and the undersigned faith-based community
activists.
This is the kind of community policing we truly respect and
honor. We hope this will continue to be the approach in our community
when persons with mental illness are in extreme crisis. We congratulate
and offer words of praise for all who were involved."
----------
Reference, SFOP/PIA organizations. San Francisco Organizing Project/Peninsula Interfaith Action. "Who are we? The San Francisco Organizing Project/Peninsula Interfaith Action
(SFOP/PIA) is a grassroots coalition of congregations and schools
working to create innovative solutions to the economic and racial
injustices facing residents on the San Francisco Peninsula. We engage
families, youth and seniors in public life to create a safe, healthy,
and thriving communities for everyone. Together with other PICO
affiliates around the state and country, SFOP/PIA is creating a new
vision that unites people who believe in justice across neighborhood,
race, class, family structure and religion."
Facebook. Peninsula Interfaith Action (PIA), "Peninsula Interfaith Action
(PIA) creates justice by forging a common sense of purpose among
diverse communities, addressing local problems, putting faith into
action, building hope and finding solutions."
Related, SFOP/PIA, PICO organization article. PeopleActing Together (PACT), Valley Catholic, 1/14/14. "
Peninsula Interfaith Action (PIA), part of the PICO National
Network of faith-based community organizations, has merged, beginning
Jan. 1, (2014) with the San Francisco Organizing Project (SFOP), with the aim
of strengthening community organizing on the Peninsula. PACT (People Acting in Community Together), a PICO
organization which has components at Catholic parishes and other faith
groups, has been engaged in Santa Clara County (Diocese of San Jose) for
more than 30 years.
PIA began some 17 years ago and has engaged parishes in the
northern part of Santa Clara County and the southern part of San Mateo
County (Archdiocese of San Francisco). According to Jennifer Martinez, PhD, Co-Director of
SFOP/PIA, “We will explore new methods, new partnerships, and new
visions to address the social justice needs of our region. We are
beginning to see how our work for immigrant rights, affordable housing,
access to health care and breaking the cycle of violence and
incarceration will be enhanced by the alliance of these two
long-standing organizations."
Note related Fix Pacifica articles: the death of Errol Chang, 3/18/14, search Errol Chang. Police and first responder intervention training which occurred that Summer, 2014, search mentally ill.
Posted by Kathy Meeh
19 comments:
Mr. Chang didn't even have a gun. The man was frightened afraid then the Pacifica Police storm into his place like a swat team. All against one man then fill him up with lead. Regardless if Mr. Chang had a little knife that was just cold murder that the Police get away with all the time. The police are the ones that need mental health evaluations more then anyone some of them are just plain scary. Especially in Pacifica where you get a lot of rookie trainees that are Gung-ho.
He did have a gun in the house. Now being he didn't fire out into the crowd, he was walking around the house with a gun, I say the police should have just waited him out. Or fired tear gas into the house and made him come out.
Pacifica has two members on the force who train with the county swat team. Daly City officers took over the Swat operation.
Get the fact straight.
How about you getting your facts straight? Errol Chang was not walking around the house with a gun. The gun had been disassembled days earlier by his father and the parts hidden around the house. The father told the police about it. Errol Chang had barricaded himself in a room and was armed with a knife when the SWAT team broke into the house, cornered him, and killed him. He was not seen with a gun at any time that day and no gun was found in the home (other than the one hidden in scattered pieces by the father). It's possible that a less aggressive, less military-style, more police response would have resulted in a
Oops, garbled post. Computer died mid-way. Blame it on 654 and his annoying bs.
Ian, we all know when you post anon
Plus he stabbed one of the swat team members in the arm.
I was a cop in the Air Force a million years ago, and on the base SWAT team.(Although we didn't call it that. We were TNT - Tactical Neutralization Team.) I'm pretty sure that as long as no shots were being fired and there was only one person in the house, we would have blocked off access to the area and waited it out, even if it took a week.
I have a definite affinity for police departments everywhere, but I don't think the Errol Chang incident was handled well by the Pacifica and Daly City Police Departments. It almost felt like they wanted to end it quickly so they could go home and eat dinner.
Steve Sinai said, "I don't think the Errol Chang incident was handled well by the Pacifica and Daly City Police Departments."
That's an understatement.
Sinai
You once told me you were in the Army.
Were you the guy who ran out for donuts and made sure they always had fresh coffee?
Ian? Yeah, coming to you straight from the Secret Waterfall! Plus, you're hilarious, 1019. The truth is that Errol Chang was a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. The cops knew that. His mental illness made him think people were out to harm him. Guess what? On the day he died, people were. Through their undue haste, zeal, and ignorance, they were.
I never said I was in the Army. What I said was I was thinking about joining the Navy, but couldn't because my IQ test scores were too high.
1034 Had it happened in today's environment, with police shootings and their military-style tactics under the microscope, it would not have been so easy for authorities to sweep it under the rug. Ditto for the police killing of that young girl in HMB.
You blew it Sinai. You coulda been an Admiral!
The Navy takes the low test scores.
11:05
If some manic depressive guy was threatening you, and or your family, with a knife and or a gun what would you do? Would you take the hippie response and ask him to smoke a bowl. Or would you take matters into your own hands and disarm him?
Sinai, you could have been Pacifica's police chief with a nice pension coming your way in a few years.
11:34 that's a total non-sequitor. They shot and killed a guy that was cooped up in his own home, alone. They also threw some of those firecracker things at people down the road filming them. I learned a valuable lesson that day: if a loved one is losing it, don't call the police as they'll execute them. I'm glad there's a new policy though, the PP are to be congratulated.
11:34 your argument by analogy is so off the mark, it's laughable.
Actually offering a bipolar a bowl full might promote a calming effect.
257 Yup, the argument and the analogy are inane. 1134 is like a furious archer with a blindfold. Sharon, however, is 20/20 and has again offered a rational, common-sense response.
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