Is that what you would do when a family member is having a mental health episode? Ask for cops with guns? That woman chasing the Wallace around the car was his mother. She wasn't armed. She wasn't in fear of her life. She was trying to save her son's life because there were cops there with their guns drawn shouting at him. There was no else being threatened by him. For better or worse because this country has largely abandoned funding the treatment of the mentally ill and the police for better or worse have become the default first responders to mental health crisis calls. And most of them aren't adequately prepared and trained to deal with them. They get many, many more hours in firearms training than they get on dealing with people mental health issues. Even though they will almost certainly deal with many more people who are in mental crisis than they will with people who are violent criminals committing violent acts in the course of their law enforcement careers. Whether they're policing in urban, suburban or rural areas. Numbering fewer than 1 in 50 U.S. adults, individuals with untreated severe mental illness are involved in at least 1 in 4 and as many as half of all fatal police shootings. They're 16 times more likely to be killed by law enforcement. And contrary to popular belief most mentally ill people are not violent. In fact they are far more likely to be a victims of crime, not perpetuate them.
When I saw some the descriptions of Mr Wallace's persona, such as being a talented musician and aspiring artist, but also someone who has been dealing with mental health and behavioral problems from a young age. I immediately thought to myself he was bipolar. Because he reminded me immediately of my bipolar stepson. Bipolar people often have this very creative side to them for some reason. Turns out my instincts were correct. And let me tell you bipolar is something that is not easy to deal with, for the afflicted person and for those close to that person. And for a long time we feared that he would end up being in prison or institutionalized for most of his adult life, or that one day the police would come to our door to tell us that he was dead. I'm happy to say that he's doing much better now. He now has a very successful business, nice house, and family, and we are now very close. He regards me as being his father. He has tried to explain what was happening within him when these episodes would spike one way or the other. Because that's what bipolar is. These wild mood swings, from high to low, and I mean from very high, to very low, with often not much else in between. And actually sometimes the peaks and valleys could be equally destructive, or deconstructive. He talked of how in the midst of a manic episode the thoughts would just come racing in, faster and faster, and louder and louder, like being in a tunnel with tons of noisy traffic, or a train roaring past, there doesn't seem to be any way to turn it off. Like you're hooked up to a high energy electric current that you can't let go of and you just want to get away. I can't say that I fully understand. The only way I suppose one would be able to would be to literally be in his shoes. But I did come to understand there was a certain way we would have to talk to him, certain tones of voice and postures to adopt, and certain things you do, and don't do with him, or around him. When he was in the midst of an manic episode to avoid having it escalate even further. Practically everything those cops in Philadelphia did from moment they arrived was wrong and only served to escalate the crisis. This young man didn't have to die.
