What are the candidate's priorities?
Whether you're a Democrat, Republican or Independent, if you're a
mental health advocate, you need to take a glance at the mental health
policies being promoted by our presidential and gubernatorial
candidates, now listed on ncmentalhope.org. You'll find stark contrasts in the apparent level of concern.
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It's what we do
Stories
like the beating of Jacob Grant can get lost in the media. The press is
often hesitant to cover incidents such as this when they find out after
the fact or out of their area, no matter how tragic. Trying to
keep stories such as this alive is part of what NC Mental Hope tries to
do. The story dramatically points out the need for Crisis Intervention
Training of law officers in all areas of our state and certainly points
to the discrepencies in how those with an illness are treated Please visist ncmentalhope.org and
take advantage of the information there including the news blog and
NCAdvocacy discussion group. If you'd like to donate to our efforts
while there, it's certainly appreciated. Also, look for changes
on the website in the coming weeks to better integrate our information
services, such as the news blog, into one, more cohesive site. As always, thank you for your support. And get involved. David Cornwell Executive Director NC Mental Hope
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Mental health coverage
takes a beating
Witnesses say victim was compliant; police now charging him with assault
Had
25-year-old Jacob Grant of Bryson City been beaten by a policeman in
Raleigh, Charlotte, Asheville, Los Angeles, or a hundred other places,
the case would be under intense media scrutiny. Unfortunately, Grant,
who has schizophrenia, had the misfortune of being beaten in Bryson
City, hit with a police officer's baton 25-30 times, according to
witnesses, after being pepper sprayed the evening of September 15.
At
least a dozen witnesses are reported to have seen the beating that took
place as Officer Leon Allen was attempting to take Grant into custody
on an involuntary commitment order. A huge problem, however, was that
Allen didn't have the order with him. And witnesses say while it was
clear that Grant did not threaten the officer or try to flee, he also
made it clear he wasn't going with the officer without first seeing the
order.
"He had his hands in the air. He was nowhere near the
officer. He did not make an attempt at the officer," the Asheville
Citizen-Times quotes a witness. "He just got beat down really, really
hard."
According to Grant's father, Raleigh, his son required
three stitches, clamps and looked as if he had been hit "with a
two-by-four" on his shoulder, with broken skin and marks on the back of
his legs.
While the Smoky Mountain News in Waynesville and
Asheville Citizen-Times covered the story, to the best of my knowledge,
that was the extent of the coverage.
Wednesday, the story took
what would appear, from witness accounts, a rather bizarre twist with
the Smoky Mountain News reporting that the Bryson City Police
Department had charged Jacob Grant with assault. Links to that
story and others about the incident are below. While I certainly don't
know the details on what occurred that night, if witness reports are to
be believed, the filing of assault charges against Jacob Grant are a
travesty of justice.
Read the links below and then follow up with your thoughts with to Mayor Brad Walker, brysoncitymayor@dnet.net and any others you think need to know.
Witnesses: Officer beat man - Asheville Citizen-Times
Complaints filed against Bryson City Officer - Smoky Mountain News
Excessive force complaints against Bryson City officer investigated - Smoky Mountain Times
Bryson police brutality claims take a new turn - Smoky Mountain News
Could proper training have avoided incident? - Smoky Mountain News
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