I respectfully dis agree with your take on what I stated.JSThane wrote:No, I'm -not- worried about someone who had suicidal ideations, attempts, or thoughts, mainly because everyone has, at one point or another. The difference is the vast majority of us reject these ideas and thoughts immediately, but those who are severely clinically or situationally depressed might give it consideration. A few attempt it. A -very- few attempt it seriously.powerboatr wrote:yes but the other side of the coin is he has been treated for suicidal ideations, attempts or thoughts and NOW is a peace officer carrying a deadly weapon....
does it bother anyone he could slip into the pre existing state and do a suicide with standby collateral damages(other dead people), maybe a traffic stop sends him over the edge...
I know from y time as a suicide prevention officer in the Navy......the ones whom profess these thoughts....are never cured, they still pop up and you never ever know when they push you over the limit
I would be scared to death if this guy pulled me over.
sorry, treatment or not he should not be a LEO.
And I don't worry about what anyone -could- do, I worry about what they are -doing-. Any one of us who carries a firearm on a daily or semi-daily basis -could- get "pushed over the limit" and go on a murderous rampage at any time. None of us do, though. Justifying actions against another based on what they "might" do, instead of what they -are- doing or attempting, is justification for taking ALL our guns, ALL our rights, because of what we -could- do, what we -might- do, but what we never -will- do.
If he's too much of a danger to have a gun, he's too much of a danger to walk the streets, have a driver license, be able to buy a baseball bat, kitchen knife, frying pan, or even, to reference another thread, to buy or handle a ceramic squirrel. If he's safe enough to squirrel or play ball, then we're not really worried about him.
lots of people have suicidal thoughts, its called the human condition and many more are now predisposed to these thoughts by the current level of "in your face about suicide"
most persons would not want to "off" them selves
many think about it, daily, hourly etc
fewer actually act on it, and do it far enough to get attention(pills, slice wrists the wrong way, alcohol, etc), not wanting to die, but simply in need of help or attention
those that complete the act are dead so they are no longer a factor
that leaves us with those that attempted it and had to get treatment for the act and mental discourse that led them to the point of action. now like alcoholics and drug dependency persons they go through an ongoing treatment to prevent back sliding to to the point that caused them to be addicted.
in the suicide attempting persons, they to need on going tune ups to ensure the situation does not cause them to act again.
most persons who attempt only are in need of some attention and have feelings of needing what we call a "hug, care bear"
now this officer by the nature of his job is already predisposed to alcoholism, abuse of those in their household and a host of other issues that come with the job, ptsd is also in this mix.
now we have an officer that attempted to off himself years earlier MORE THAN ONCE,(he was depressed) and looked like he was baker act'd. He should have not imo ever passed the psych part of the police training. if he did not disclose then I am sure he knew it would create an issue being selected as a policeman.
their job is top level stressful and each area is different, we have trooper patroling ALONE on lots of back highways....think about what goes through the mind of a trooper on a dark lonely highway when doing a traffic stop. i bet his/her pulse is elevated. now add in the past "i want to end it" incident and he/she is now further elevated, they may not kill person they stop, or do they, or do they after the stop blow their heads off.
Think of one more scenario, and it could happen to anyone that has never thought about "offing them self"
after the stop the officer plans to do a suicide by passer by and causes the stopped person to defend themselves from a nut job, now he is dead and the poor driver is off to old sparky because this nut, decided he didnt want to live anymore and ruined an innocent persons life
i hope that this PA leo's name is out there and folks ask about every stop or arrest he has made and if they are legal or could be some sort of game for him to see if he could get "dead"
he is imo a ticking bomb that could explode on the public.
and to add a lot of leo's are probably ticking as well, but this guy has one more stick in the fire to pop if it were
no where did I say he was mentally ill or should be restricted from owning a firearm, I only stated he should not be a policeman. at least if he is depressed again, he can do the job correctly instead of lashing out for attention.
i may sound insensitive, but it comes from many years of counseling and investigating these "half hearted attempts", nothing worse than having to call a mom and tell her her son or daughter is on ice or in intensive care because they got depressed, then we find out they had a history of such thoughts and acts