For this discussion I chose the Schizophrenia scenario. The reason I chose that as I had a brother that was normal until 16 years of age and then went off the deep end, he was diagnosed with Schizophrenia and it was very hard to deal with in the home. Eventually he was institutionalized until medications could be found that worked on him and made him less dangerous or dangerous sounding. I would have handled the situation the same way.
In this scenario the Officers handled things the right way. Getting Kyle to put the screw driver down and listen to him as well as set up a dialogue with him. Not asking about his meds was smart as not being on them is what is causing the situation at hand. By asking Kyle if it was ok to get him checked out let him see he was in control of making choices and reassuring him that everything is going to be ok. In this scenario if the Officers reacted to the screw driver, drew weapons on him, it could have made him not drop the screw driver and possibly step towards the officers or mother and resulted in some type of use of force possibly deadly force.
In response to two of your peers, respond to one peer who chose the same scenario as you and one peer who chose the other scenario. Focus your responses on differences between your and their initial posts. Consider the following:
- Are there any instances that they identified and you did not in which law enforcement demonstrated empathy in the interaction?
- What are additional alternative outcomes that could have resulted if the officers had not demonstrated empathy?
- If your peers would have done something differently, how would that have affected the situation?