Cocked and Loaded
The reason I started to blog back in 2005 was that I needed a creative outlet, a way to express myself, connect with the rest of the world and find people who shared my ideals. This is exactly what I got from blogging and I'm grateful for the opportunity to express my thoughts and feelings here. I haven't felt like I needed to write any thing on the blog for a while but I've got a dilemma that I want to share with my blogger friends.
My dilemma is that my little brother is mentally ill and appears to be deteriorating. In light of what happened down in Tuscan AZ, recently, I'm very afraid for him. He has created a bad situation for himself. He has been TAZED four times by the local PD in the last 8 months. The last time was in a church of all places.
There is even a possibility he might be looking to get shot by the local police, what they call suicide by cop.
I know that sounds bizarre and over the top but the local police have contacted me and they are telling me my brother implied that much to them, they say he also told them he was homicidal. They say they found some rambling notes of his that they find worrisome.
The police think he has weapons (guns) and they want to know where they are.
I do know my brother is over the top with his religious fanaticism. I wrote about a stint he had in Thailand here and here.
The latest thing I found out from the police is that he is abusing dextromethorphan (also called DXM) a easy to get over the counter drug that has some of the same side affects as PCP.
The police asked me to write a statement attesting to what I know about my brothers condition and what I might know about any weapons he might have.
I feel that I have a responsibility to get involved because I do think he has created a bad situation for himself. You would think it would be easy to get him into a mental hospital, but even when they do take him, they let him right back out.
So I'm sitting here with a blank piece of paper trying to figure out what to say.
posted by Rita @ 7:17 PM
18 Comments
18 Comments:
Exactly what you just wrote. I don't necessarily trust the police but it sounds like they're trying to get him committed rather than taken to jail. Which in this case could be positive.
More later, take care, good luck.
Why do mental hospitals keep letting him out? Is it because he doesn't have insurance to pay for treatment, or do they not realize how potentially serious the situation is?
When I worked for Multnomah county, there was a county agency dedicated to dealing with mental health. It looks like Coos county has something similar. Perhaps you could call them and ask for suggestions. The fact that he has already had four encounters with police that ended with a taser being used, and that it was the police who told you he had implied an interest in "suicide by cop", should indicate to any mental-health professional that this is a serious case.
If the county agency can't or won't do anything, you could try calling the state.
If your brother eventually does serious harm to himself or someone else, then any hospital or mental-health agency which failed to take action would be vulnerable to being sued, if it could be shown that they were aware of the above specifics about his prior police encounters at the time they failed to act. You may need to resort to reminding people of that.
Good luck.
I'm not speaking for any specific personal experience as your situation is far from anything I have ever had to deal with, however, my gut feeling is to cooperate with the police as much as possible as it seems there is little you can do yourself to help your brother.
harry
There is no love lost between me and the PD. I don't trust them as far as I could throw them. This situation has gone too far, though. My brother is playing a dangerous game antagonizing the local authorities. He is leaving them with few options.
My brother is living with my mother and we've been relying on her to have a handle on him. My mother is a honest person and loves my brother. But, he is using her religious mindset against her. Whenever I talk to her about him she down plays everything & goes along with whatever story he tells her. She is basically powerless in this situation.
I don't see that I have any other option but to step in.
infidel
Thanks for the link. I'm contacting them as soon as possible.
phil
Fish guts? EWWWW.
Seriously, I do plan on doing whatever I can to resolve this situation.
Rita, I understand. I think Infidel has your back with some appropriate links.
Wow.
He does seem to be on a very dangerous path. I agree, you should cooperate with the PD on this one.
Some of us are a bit eccentric. But your brother seems truly disturbed.
Getting tazed in church is truly disturbing. How out there does one have to be for that ?
How does someone get tazed in church?
The pastor of the church had talked to me about my brothers behavior in church a couple of times before the tazing incident. Two months ago the pastor told me they had considered forcefully removing him from the church. A key thing is that we are talking about a Pentecostal church. I think Pentecostal churches tend to create their own problems. I mean when a church sanctifies speaking in tongues and other strange behavior, where do they draw the line?
I believe what my brother did was create a climate of fear & uncertainty. I think he pushed them into throwing him out then refused to leave when they did. He probably claimed he was under God's authority & not man's or some other nonsense like that.
The police report said he was passed out my brother said he was praying. I think he was high on dextromethorphan & past the point of no return.
WOW that's a conundrum. Do you cooperate with a police force that hasn't been that nice in da past?.. Or tell them and maybe help them?
I say with mental illness best to have an error of judgement, than to maybe have the public safety at risk. If your brother is at all violent, tell da police what weapons he has. He shouldn't have them. Guns, knives... Whatever he has. I know your concerned.
You only have'ta see da news in da last few weeks to know what happens when warnings aren't heeded.
Hello Rita!
I read this the other day ... but didnt frankly know how to comment ... I just dont understand alot of it. This is the same brother you said was asking for bookoo money with a religious group in Asia(?), and pulling off getting it, he never seemed mentally ill to me, if he can pull off stuff like that (I reckon there's different type's). The cop's tased him 4 time's?, yet no charge's were filed against him? that's just unusual to me. They are asking other's about weapon's? you dont have to answer that without an attorney, he isnt on your property. I also know that gun possession is legal from what I heard in Oregon ... and if there was question of threat from authorities, why hasnt there been as far as weapon's, if indeed it was a question of "possession legalities and/ or threat" to anyone ... there wasnt no search warrant granted? If he would have been charged say with a misdemeanor (usually "resisting/ obstruction" in that case) when tased and taken to jail, they have a psych unit too, dont they (county paid)? I mean, if I get tased, and not charged, I'm going to sue ... but that's just me. But I dont know how thing's work there ... so it's confusing to me. But hope you get it straightened out. As I told you earlier, I had a mooching brother who sponged off my parent's when they were alive, basically I disassociated with him year's ago when he asked me for more money with lying excuses (after mom and dad died, they alway's felt sorry for him and supported him, so I didnt want to hurt my mom or dad) ... havent seen or heard from him in year's, dont know if he's alive for that matter or where.
Lter Rita
Another thing Dear ... alwayz know your right's, that is the trouble with too many citizen's, giving in to these unwarranted "cop game's" ... frankly by law, he's not even your responsibility ... this is just me ... if I dont find ground's, some kind of legal precedent for questioning me, I will tell the cop's straight up ..."end of conversation" , you either legally charge or have reason to question me, or I walk. And no ... I wont answer ... "talk to my lawyer" is the response. I feel sorry for your mom on this, and having to put up with that, beside's ... do they think he has some weapon stash hidden on or near the property?
One more thing then I'll shut up, understand that attesting in documentation is "legal" ground's if you willingly submit it, to even question you more ... I would not turn over any written anything to them, it's not your issue, what he does, or I dont see any legal reason you should have to Rita, but I dont know all the detail's here Dear either, I am going on only what I read ... but I dont see where you have any legal responsibity to this even any verbal deposition at that to anything he does, he's an adult. I am not trying to talk down your brother sister relationship what ever it is, I am saying you have no legal obligation to/ for his action's only.
Wally According to the police, my brother has made veiled threats to create a situation that forces them into shooting him. I don't want to see him or anyone else hurt. I know the police are using my statement to protect themselves. But it's my brother who created the situation in the first place.
RC In the last incident at the church, he is being charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest & I think trespassing. Also they have stopped him & searched his vehicle, at least once that I know of.
I know I didn't have to make a statement, but I did it willingly, because I'm trying to protect him & anyone else from getting killed. My brother seems to think it's a game. It appears he is deliberately setting himself up to be tazed. I know the police are trigger happy when it comes to tazing but that's really beside the point. It says a lot about a person's mental state to be playing these kinds of games with the law. The police told me they believe he has a bigger plan and nefarious motives. This idea he is also perpetrating.
The biggest concern with them of course is whether he has weapons. I'm very concerned about it too, because I also believe he is a danger to himself maybe others. No one else in the family is going to step in & help. In light of present circumstances, I feel I'm doing the right thing cooperating with the police. Although I don't trust them not to stab me in the back.
Tough spot, darling. I feel for you. Like the others said, it is best to be honest and just tell them what you know.
Due to my own personal experience I am not willing to bad mouth the police but I realize there are good and bad in every situation.
I hope this has the best possible outcome.
Understood Rita
Bon courage !!!! I remember your brother's Thailand episode... hope his "God" will show him the right way to sanity and reality. Bon courage, again !!!
Sorry to hear that Rita, hope you figured out how to handle that one properly.
Thanks all.
My brother will be going to court sometime in February for the last charges against him. For the time being all is quiet on the front.
Rita ---what a tough spot you are in on this. I have several suggestions:
1) go with your gut ---think how horrible you will feel if your brother harms himself or others.
2) what would you do if he were not your bother? if he were a neighbor behaving this way, would you cooperate with the police to protect others from danger?
3) check with someone who can explain your state or local laws about admitting people to mental institutions or drug rehab. I don't have much experience with this, but....
I used to teach school. On several occasions students simply freaked out and caused huge disruptions (including screaming, threatening, physical damage to themselves, others, and/or to school property.) Police were called. The students were admitted to mental wards of local hospitals. In all cases, they were back in school within a few days. Why? Because in this area, mental institutions cannot legally keep patients over the age of 14 for more than 3 days if they request to be released. In all of these cases, the teens might have seemed OK after they had calmed down, but I knew the students quite well and, in most cases, there were definitely big troubles lurking, problems that might have been helped with long-term therapy or in-patient treatment. In all cases, the parents were either 1) in denial and/or 2) didn't have a clue what to do. Ten years later, one of the former students walked into a bar and shot a guy in the head for no apparent reason. He was high & got off on an insanity plea.
The problem is that most people who are on drugs or mentally ill don't have the capacity to understand that they are threats to themselves or others ---or they see a kind of weird justice in what they are doing. Most can't make rational decisions about their own status. I know there have been abuses ---people who were not really mentally ill kept in institutions for long periods ---but he has you and your mother to make sure he is getting good treatment and advocating for his release if the time comes for that. He should also be assigned a social worker ---although I know most are overworked, at least there will be an impartial advocate for his well-being ---and the social worker will probably know the law, your brother's rights, and give you suggestions on how to handle him.
Good luck.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home