Mental Health Crisis: Crime and Mental Health

Again, many tragic incidents are taking place by mentally ill people. Recently, a mentally ill man  killed a New York City police officer and several others with an automatic weapon, and a councilman in Virginia was doused in gasoline and set on fire. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue, or even a gun control issue. Simply put, it’s a MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE!!

With regard to the mentally ill population, the only place many of them call home are the streets. No amount of gun laws or legislation can stop a mentally ill person from killing someone, even with a gun. If they have the desire to do so they will, and in any way that they can. Unfortunately, legal gun registration systems allow mentally ill people to qualify for gun registration because of privacy laws. 

Instead of the endless Democrat/Republican gun ownership ideology debate, let’s direct that time, energy, and concern toward helping the mentally in our country. However, it’s not that simple.

At the D.A.D Program, I deal with these issues quite often. In addition to pioneering the Healing Art of Drum Therapy, the D.A.D. program is a mental health advocacy organization. I have assisted numerous child protection agencies on cases, the United States Department of Defense has asked me to help train their mental health directors in Drum Therapy, to help wounded troops with mental health and PTSD issues.

I have been asked by lawyers throughout the United States to help them represent severely mentally ill people. I have been asked by Senator and Congressmen throughout the country to help write special needs legislation, and we have been asked by lawyers throughout the country to assist them in high profile cases where special needs children have been abused or bullied. I wrote the first law in the country to provide additional protection for special needs children who are bullied or abused.

Criminally ill people walk our streets every day, right in plain sight. HUGE numbers of mentally ill people, criminal or not, across the United States have nowhere to go. Cities and States are overrun with mentally ill people and simply have nowhere to house them. They live on our streets, they live on our sidewalks, and for one simple reason, THEY HAVE NO HELP!! In some cases, they are refused financial support from the state as a result of their actions. Mentally Ill people cannot and should not be held responsible for their actions, because they don't have the mental capacity to be responsible.

Sometimes as result of their bad behavior, these people are punished by state and local agencies. In some instances, whatever little financial support and food and housing are taken away from them.

I have seen this happen. I have also seen our clients removed from mental health hospitals because of their dangerous actions, which the hospital could not handle. They were put in jail on suicide watch, which was definitely called for, then released from jail because the jail didn’t want to deal their situation. At the same time, many of these people can’t reside in homeless shelters because they are either taking psychotropic medications, and/or are a danger to themselves and others. Therefore, they are refused entry into shelters, and maybe if they are lucky put into mental health facilities for a couple days, then released.

Prisons throughout United States have a logistical problem housing criminally insane individuals. Obviously this is a big issue for the safety and security for all American citizens. The advocate in me has to mention severely disabled children with mental health issues, and providing housing for them as their parents age. These facilities are extremely difficult to find and secure. That will be a different column, but it's still a big part of the "mental health and housing" problem.

Mental Health issues can be difficult to understand, especially for people who have no relation to the disability world. They have no idea that the mental health crisis is out of control in the United States.

Obtaining treatment and housing for the mentally ill population is extremely frustrating, and is at a crisis level. This is especially true when dealing the criminally insane, and also for mentally ill people who have a psychosis. They are very good at deception, and they hide their mental health issues on purpose to avoid treatment.

Part of the mentally ill safety issues reside right at gun registration laws. Not having a mental health background check on a gun permit applications, is just ridiculous!! As much I protect the rights of the special needs population, screening for mental illness MUST be a part of the gun registration process, and we need to change these laws immediately!!

Remember, mentally ill people can be very persuasive. When they go to apply for a gun permit, or even to go get examined by a doctor, they can make themselves appear to be completely normal. In the case of a gun dealer and those who accept gun permit applications, they would have no clue as to whether or not a person is mentally ill, because they aren't allowed to include mental health background screenings as part of the gun application process.

The majority of the general public has no idea that those who suffer from moderate to severe mental health illness either have no place to go, or are removed from the facility they are residing in, due to funding. These people move about in plain sight and are right next to us, yet most people don't even notice them.

One absolute fact remains: Even if every gun magically disappeared from the planet, the urge to kill for the criminally ill still remains. If not with a gun, it would be with a stick, and what happens then? remove all the trees? If not with a gun, then with a car. Then what, remove all the cars? If not with a gun, then a bomb, as was the case with Timothy Mcveigh. What should we have done, end the fertilizer industry? The 9/11 hijackers used airplanes to kill, and yet not one single gun caused the worst terrorist attack in U.S. History.

Moving forward, let’s focus the general discussion on how to stop mentally ill people from obtaining guns. Let's examine what we choose to ignore. We must have a mental health background check as part of the gun permit application process!!