Take some responsibility.

This is a repost, however I think it warrants its own thread in response to a number of posts where individuals have decided to do some cop bashing with regards to Police and their response to epilepsy. Police Officers across North America do take training with regard to Mental Illness and what is required when they need to intervene. Since Police Officers ARE NOT social workers, nor medical doctors their particular challenge is relatively simple. If they encounter an individual that has come to their attention that is not acting acting in a socially acceptable manner they are expected to take some type of action. The action of the individual in question will decide on the reaction of the Police. Since over 500 Police Officers a year are murdered on duty in the US and thousands of others are seriously injured, some during such calls, they only have a couple of responsibilities. First of all they have to ensure their safety and that they go home at the end of their shift. (Too often the public forgets that Police Officers did not go into this type of career to get themselves killed.) Next they have a responsibility to protect the general public and thirdly they have a responsibility for the safety of the person that is causing the incident. To ensure everyone's safety they now have less than lethal weapons in case they do have to take action, but once again the action of the individual in question will decide on the reaction of the police. Items such as the taser, pepperspray, mace etc are all options for them. I would certainly expect them to use the tools that they have and to use them in the manner in which they have been trained. For some armchair quaterback from any advocacy group to even think for a moment that Police Officers should be able to identify seizures from a hundred other possible reasons for the behaviour is absolutely ridiculous. Think about it. All you have to do is read the posts and stories on this website to come to the conclusion that even specialists can't agree on or recognize seizures!!!! For someone to even think or consider this indicates just how selfish and irresponsible they are. These are the same people that blame everyone and everything else for the ills of the world. People have to be responsible and accountable for their own actions and if they can't guess what.....it's up to the persons family or other support/social services not to mention they shouldn't be in public by themselves to begin with. Don't expect the police to be the babysitters of society and don't put the burden of your disability on the general public. It's not their issue! AND DON'T USE your disability as an excuse for your poor choices or judgements. I expect empathy from the social agencies and medical experts I use as well as support from them..... BUT I don't expect Jane Doe who is minding her own business on a bus when she is groped by my son who is having a seizure (that we know will happen) to accept or understand any of this. It's not her issue, it's not her problem!! People have to start taking some responsibility and quit blaming others. We have become a society of blamers!! Just be thankful that the Police are trained in less than lethal use of force options. Many of us still have our loved ones with us because of this. Folks we have court systems. If an unfortunate event takes place that ends up involving the police and the judicial system, we can have our day in court to offer an explanation. Hopefully no matter what the outcome may be we can learn something from it to ensure we or our loved one doesn't end up in the same situation again. If in the end we still feel that we have been slighted by the Police or treated unfairly then we can seek further remedies from the courts. And please don't believe everything you read in the newspaper. We are grown adults and surely we are aware that Freedom of the Press does not neccessarily mean Accountability of the Press. They will print anything in order to sell the daily rags. The more sensational they can make the story, the more papers they sell. Retractions made by newpapers months or years later usually end up somewhere in the classified section or the back of the paper...they usually aren't considered news worthy. "Take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame. ~Erica Jong"