I am most disturbed by an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from 1/22/06 describing the shooting and killing of a schizophrenic man by a police officer. Despite the man's obvious mental illness, the police officer is not being charged with any crime. I wonder how often this happens in Missouri, and I plan to research it. Why aren't our police officers trained to handle those with mental illness?
posted by Sickly Person @ 10:53 AM
8 Comments:
Leslie,I share your concerns, and I hope your website will become a center for a spirited discussion about this important issue.
Leslie, I believe it is tragic when an undeserving individual is shot and killed. However, just out of curiousity, how was the victim's mental illness "obvious," as you say? I have not read the article yet, but I offer the point that what is "obvious" to a trained MSW student might not be as "obvious" to a police officer, who is probably not educated in mental health.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO) January 22, 2006
Section: Metro Edition: Third Edition
Page C5 Word count: 701
ID#: 1000474148
The Ste. Genevieve police officer who fatally shot an unarmed, mentally ill man in his home will not be prosecuted for the Nov. 3 shooting, a spokesman for Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon said Saturday. Ste. Genevieve Police Chief Dale Newman said he would not discuss details of the shooting until his office had been officially informed that Officer Michael J. Coon, 33, had been cleared of wrongdoing in the shooting of Dennis P. Heberlie III, 47.
http://dennisheberlie.bravehost.com/
Leslie,
In April, a petition with 2000 signatures were sent to Nixon asking for him to reconsider.
He has NEVER replied.
http://www.DennisHeberlie.com/
Park Hills Daily Journal, MO - Feb 4, 2006
Protesters angry about Nixon decision More than 40 protesters descended on the Ste. Genevieve County Courthouse Jan. 28 to express their displeasure with a decision made by Attorney General Jay Nixon. Nixon recently announced he was not going to bring charges against a City of Ste. Genevieve police officer for shooting and killing a mentally disturbed man.
http://www.DennisHeberlie.com/
http://www.myspace.com/heberlie
http://wakeup.to/WrongfulDeathGate
What was the crime that Dennis committed that would justify the use of deadly force? None. Justice for Dennis!
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