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Austin Police Department Assist Those with Mental Illness

By Kristin Houle

From the Austin American-Statesman, December 29, 2007:Protecting and serving the mentally ill: Austin police crisis officers strain to fill gaps in mental health care in the face of budget cuts, growing caseloadBy Joshunda SandersWillie, 71, was muttering to himself underneath a dying palm tree in his Clarksville front yard when Austin police officers Donnie Williamson and Kim Devitt showed up. He glanced at the familiar white car, then scurried into his house, screaming, "What'd I do now?"Williamson approached Willie's door. "We're just here to check on you," he said calmly. "Go home now!" the older man yelled, slamming his door shut.Like hundreds of other mentally ill people in Austin, Willie's not an immediate danger to anyone. (His last name has been withheld because he was not charged with any wrongdoing...continue to full post

Full post as published by Prevention Not Punishment on December 31, 2007 (boomark / email).