Discussion for article #238379
Let me see if I understand: the kids father reported his concerns to the police, who repaid the cooperation by luring this mentally ill idiot into a sting operation so they can bust him, get publicity, and sentance him to life in a supermax.
Sounds great for the statistics - but does this actually make us safer?
What lesson is the next concerned parent going to draw from this?
Good intelligence work is based on buidling relationships, not BS like this.
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He should be going to a mental institution where he can get the help he needs.
Not a prison.
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He probably will end up in some kind of mental institution, because the evidence for his mental illness predates his apparent involvement with ISIL and he has a parent and friends with the resources to defend him. If only all the other “terrorists” caught up in sting operations had similar resources to draw on.
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I have no doubt that will be the case, but it’s not quite as easy as you make it out to be. He’s a danger to self and others in a way that most aren’t if he’s been able to develop murderous intent and begin carrying it out in terms of planning and acquisition of the weapons, etc. Private “civilian” mental health facilities that can handle that kind of patient are few and far between. To some extent it starts becoming a matter of protecting the other patients and the staff from being exposed to that kind of risk. He may very well be relegated to a prison with that kind of facility for lack of anywhere else to put him.
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I’m not making it out to be easy. There aren’t enough facilities for war vets with issues, let alone people like this guy.
And that, my friend, is the real crime.
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No, I know you didn’t mean “easy.” That was just a bad choice of turning a phrase on my part. The lack of facilities IS the real crime…as is the practical reality that he’ll probably wind up in a facility unfit for his care.
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We can’t fix everything and everyone. I get that.
But why do we create environments where we’re much more likely to have…
that.
Another real crime in all of this is how tough it is to get a mentally ill family member the long term help they need. Sure, you can get a 48 hour hold, and maybe a few extra days to get them compliant on medication, but as soon as they get out they often can’t afford their meds or can’t stand the feeling of being on them or simply stop taking them because they feel they’re better now.
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Tell that one to Adam Lanza’s parents.
He’s right in that early twenties sweet spot for schizophrenia. Thought they had test for that now.
see, e.g., Creigh Deeds.