Jacob Griffin: End police killing the mentally ill
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Nashville Metro Police killed 23 year old Jacob Griffin, Saturday, May 1st after his mother called asking for help. The authorities tell people to ask for help. There is no help for the mentally ill, just bullets when they cannot comply.
Jake was schizophrenic, suicidal, armed, and often talked about a "death by cop". He never committed a crime, never hurt anyone, and wasn't threatening anyone when the police arrived at the scene. He was alone in a homeless camp where he lived and because he had a gun, the police began talking to him as if he were a bank robber holding hostages and utterly failed to treat him as the confused and afraid mentally ill person that he was.
Nashville police sent the entire SWAT team and attempted to "negotiate" with a disoriented schizophrenic man for several hours. He was unable to comply and likely didn't even understand what was being asked of him.
Minutes before sundown, the police's tone changed. They demanded Jacob's immediate compliance and told him his time was up. A large dog was deployed to attack Jacob while they shouted and screamed demands. The abrupt change of tone didn't prompt his sudden compliance. During this confusion, Jacob fired his weapon into the air, so the police then shot and killed him.
After hours being cornered by police, Jacob was likely tired, hungry, thirsty, and confused. The police could have given him food or water containing sedatives to end the standoff. Instead, they killed him and will insist it was justified.
Police are not trained properly to deal with mentally ill people and often, violence or even death, is the result. Jacob was not an imminent threat to law enforcement or anyone else at the scene. Police policies and practices do not include deploying medications or even tranquilizer darts in these situations, so where a wild animal can be tranquilized and returned safely to its zoo, people like Jacob in the throws of dire psychological distress, are killed because police place less value on the lives of the mentally ill than they do on zoo animals. This must change.
Jacob's family is incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support after Jacob's death. This fund will be used for legal fees as Jacob's family plans to bring legal action against the Nashville Metro Police. Jacob was the 5th person killed by the Metro Police in 2021, but he won't be the last. Jacob's family is taking legal action to force the Nashville Metro Police to release all records, video footage, policy decisions, and supervisory actions, all of which will never be made public voluntarily. The police released a small amount of video footage right away to justify this killing. The police, once again, acted as judge, jury, and executioner and Jacob died as a result. This cannot be allowed to happen and change is needed now.
The lives of the mentally ill are just as valuable as others and they should be treated as such. His mother, his siblings, and the entire family will continue to miss Jacob's presence and will try to fight for change for the mentally ill.
Jake was schizophrenic, suicidal, armed, and often talked about a "death by cop". He never committed a crime, never hurt anyone, and wasn't threatening anyone when the police arrived at the scene. He was alone in a homeless camp where he lived and because he had a gun, the police began talking to him as if he were a bank robber holding hostages and utterly failed to treat him as the confused and afraid mentally ill person that he was.
Nashville police sent the entire SWAT team and attempted to "negotiate" with a disoriented schizophrenic man for several hours. He was unable to comply and likely didn't even understand what was being asked of him.
Minutes before sundown, the police's tone changed. They demanded Jacob's immediate compliance and told him his time was up. A large dog was deployed to attack Jacob while they shouted and screamed demands. The abrupt change of tone didn't prompt his sudden compliance. During this confusion, Jacob fired his weapon into the air, so the police then shot and killed him.
After hours being cornered by police, Jacob was likely tired, hungry, thirsty, and confused. The police could have given him food or water containing sedatives to end the standoff. Instead, they killed him and will insist it was justified.
Police are not trained properly to deal with mentally ill people and often, violence or even death, is the result. Jacob was not an imminent threat to law enforcement or anyone else at the scene. Police policies and practices do not include deploying medications or even tranquilizer darts in these situations, so where a wild animal can be tranquilized and returned safely to its zoo, people like Jacob in the throws of dire psychological distress, are killed because police place less value on the lives of the mentally ill than they do on zoo animals. This must change.
Jacob's family is incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support after Jacob's death. This fund will be used for legal fees as Jacob's family plans to bring legal action against the Nashville Metro Police. Jacob was the 5th person killed by the Metro Police in 2021, but he won't be the last. Jacob's family is taking legal action to force the Nashville Metro Police to release all records, video footage, policy decisions, and supervisory actions, all of which will never be made public voluntarily. The police released a small amount of video footage right away to justify this killing. The police, once again, acted as judge, jury, and executioner and Jacob died as a result. This cannot be allowed to happen and change is needed now.
The lives of the mentally ill are just as valuable as others and they should be treated as such. His mother, his siblings, and the entire family will continue to miss Jacob's presence and will try to fight for change for the mentally ill.
Organiser
Karen Griffin
Organiser
Brentwood, TN
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