Neighbor with paranoid schizophrenia

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by flameswin

That's a police matter. If police weren't involved he could call them and report, but they were involved so he can contact the police and ask for any details they're legally allowed to give. There's no other group or organization that will provide more options or take more action than AHS or CPS. That's the point we're trying to make.

Not saying otherwise, but none of that was in the post I quoted. Simply too many people making the assumption that the OP wants the guy locked up. He's simply concerned

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Huh? Town hall meeting is too much, sure, but how could educating and informing people on the subject possibly be a bad thing?

Perhaps I was misreading Dion's post, but it sounded like he was suggesting a townhall meeting specifically relating to the neighbor and incident.

Any education is great, and severely needed for the general public.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by bmtimit

Huh? Town hall meeting is too much, sure, but how could educating and informing people on the subject possibly be a bad thing?

Yes, more info and education is sorely needed in this sector. But Dion was suggesting having a town hall about this individual to get everyone comfortable with him in the community. This is a human being with a disability, not a goddam* development permit for a stripmall to be debated at a town hall.

Originally Posted by MacDaddy77

The latest incident happened on a Saturday while the caregiver was on a golf weekend in lethbridge without anyone knowing. This information was gathered while I was in my garage eavesdropping on the police responding to the call

So Police investigated, and then you investigated further by only getting a shred of the info from the investigation, however, you're concluding your investigation was more thorough than the real investigation, and that the person shouldn't be allowed home under the existing caregiver.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Yes, more info and education is sorely needed in this sector. But Dion was suggesting having a town hall about this individual to get everyone comfortable with him in the community. This is a human being with a disability, not a goddam* development permit for a stripmall to be debated at a town hall.

I don't disagree with any of that, but I think Dion's suggestion was simply that it'd be good for the community to get informed.

Originally Posted by Ducay

So Police investigated, and then you investigated further by only getting a shred of the info from the investigation, however, you're concluding your investigation was more thorough than the real investigation, and that the person shouldn't be allowed home under the existing caregiver.

Again, you're not wrong, but to the OP it simply looked different. Nothing wrong with him being concerned and wanting to make sure. Is that not better than living in fear and misunderstanding of the guy?

[Flames_Gimp]

believe it or not AHS actually believes that living at home provides a better quality of life and if this person wants to live at home I guarantee the support worker will do their best to keep them at home. Providing there's no court orders of course.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Yes, more info and education is sorely needed in this sector. But Dion was suggesting having a town hall about this individual to get everyone comfortable with him in the community. This is a human being with a disability, not a goddam* development permit for a stripmall to be debated at a town hall.



So Police investigated, and then you investigated further by only getting a shred of the info from the investigation, however, you're concluding your investigation was more thorough than the real investigation?

Your leaps of assumtions are disturbing and insulting. Educating the masses on mental illness eliminates the stigma.

[jayswin]

It's getting a little heated in here, and maybe I'm a part of that.

MacDaddy77, I think the issue for those of us that deal with this stuff all the time is that you have info that should very simply be passed along to police as your observations and concerns as a neighbor.

But instead it appears you're asking for advice on how to remove a neighbor because you're concerned about other residents and your kids (which btw is a perfectly valid concern, and I wouldn't want to sound callous about that).

As someone who's had to deal with "concerns" turning into neighbors thinking they're owed a full disclosure breakdown and think they can control what happens in a private matter, it's very simple;

In a 1000 piece puzzle, the police and AHS have almost all the pieces and you as a neighbor are sitting there with 5 pieces, waving your hands saying "I've figured it out, let's get him out of here".

[Dion]

Originally Posted by flameswin

Perhaps I was misreading Dion's post, but it sounded like he was suggesting a townhall meeting specifically relating to the neighbor and incident.

Any education is great, and severely needed for the general public.

You were misreading it like Ducay was. Thank you for looking for a clarification on what I might have said.

[MacDaddy77]

Thank you to everyone that provided input. I was looking for where to make my concerns heard and will act on the suggestions

. I have no intention if lighting torches and organizing a mob to chase him out of the neighborhood I had no issues living beside this person for 4 years even with the police calls. Now though something has changed and my confidence is not the same. That he is getting the care required.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by flameswin

It's getting a little heated in here, and maybe I'm a part of that.

MacDaddy77, I think the issue for those of us that deal with this stuff all the time is that you have info that should very simply be passed along to police as your observations and concerns as a neighbor.

But instead it appears you're asking for advice on how to remove a neighbor because you're concerned about other residents and your kids (which btw is a perfectly valid concern, and I wouldn't want to sound callous about that).

As someone who's had to deal with "concerns" turning into neighbors thinking they're owed a full disclosure breakdown and think they can control what happens in a private matter, it's very simple;

In a 1000 piece puzzle, the police and AHS have almost all the pieces and you as a neighbor are sitting there with 5 pieces, waving your hands saying "I've figured it out, let's get him out of here".

The problem here and is this thread is people making assumptions and not asking for clarification. We make assumptions on what the intended actions of persons are and unfairly lable them

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by MacDaddy77

Thank you to everyone that provided input. I was looking for where to make my concerns heard and will act on the suggestions

. I have no intention if lighting torches and organizing a mob to chase him out of the neighborhood I had no issues living beside this person for 4 years even with the police calls. Now though something has changed and my confidence is not the same. That he is getting the care required.

Of course, and the police non-emergency line is who you'd call in this case, no one else.

You just explain your relationship with the guy starting from the beginning, and provide your recent details that suggest things may have changed, or that you think a caregiver isn't fulfilling their duties and then they add that to the puzzle and go from there.

[corporatejay]

Macdaddy, I think your concerns are valid and you should phone AHS and CPS to voice your concerns. They may not be able to give you the answers you want but at least you'll have piece of mind knowing something was done.

Maybe the police and AHS don't realize the patient is undercared for, let's not pretend these organizations don't make mistakes or don't have the whole story. Best case scenario your mentally ill neighbour gets the care and supervision they require and you can feel comfortable in your own home.

For what it's worth, I think Ducay and Flameswin are overreacting as I haven't interpreted anything you've said in this thread to be of the "lock him up and take him away" variety.

[MacDaddy77]

I'm not trying to get him out of here. I'm concerned that because of potentially not receiving the right care he is becoming a danger to himself and others. I have mentioned before I had a good relationship for 4 years however something has changed

I was looking for advice on who to contact regarding my concerns. It's up to professionals to determine what's best but I think community input shoukd also be taken into account

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally Posted by MacDaddy77

When you see them leave for work on Thursday and not return until
Sunday and no one being there to look after the 2 gentlemen I can "in my opinion" absolutely asses the quality of care

The latest incident happened on a Saturday while the caregiver was on a golf weekend in lethbridge without anyone knowing. This information was gathered while I was in my garage eavesdropping on the police responding to the call

how do you know that he can't be alone for a weekend? and just because some officers' opinions were overheard means nothing, police aren't medical professionals and they aren't judges. I'm sure the proper authorities were contacted and and there are on going assessments if needed.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

believe it or not AHS actually believes that living at home provides a better quality of life and if this person wants to live at home I guarantee the support worker will do their best to keep them at home. Providing there's no court orders of course.

Yep, for people who don't deal with it, it seems simple "put them in the hospital and they'll get the care and supervision they need, everything will be better" (this is in response to FlamesGimp, not MacDaddy's specific issue).

The reality is for most mentally ill people, they're not an animal that gets placed in proper care and observation in a hospital and goes "Oh good, this feels right, nothing can go wrong because I'm watched all the time and properly dealt with by professionals"

Most react with "I'm a ****ing human being, who wants to live a normal life with family and friends, and if this is how my life is then why am I living?".

[Kjesse]

I'm perplexed by the posters who say leave it to the professionals--- CPS, AHS, etc.. Once someone with mental health issues is running through through your neighborhood threatening someone with a knife, its not time to just sit back and assume everyone involved is doing their jobs. Its time to make an issue of it. Even if there weren't mental health issues, its time to start asking why this person is free. Who made this decision and on what grounds?

The officials involved may have neglected this case, it could be misdiagnosed, it could be mishandled, possibly understaffed, and that this incident happened at all suggests something is not right.

Were this to have happened on my street I'd be all over every official involved, to make sure this is addressed and handled properly, whatever that may lead to. Maybe the person stays, maybe not, but given the violent outburst there is serious cause for concern.

I have no idea if this person should be allowed to still live where they do, but I'd make damn sure to raise enough noise that I know this isn't falling through the cracks, and I'd create a trail of accountability in case something really bad happens.

[doctajones428]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

how do you know that he can't be alone for a weekend?

Probably because he went after someone with a knife after being left alone for a weekend?

[Kjesse]

Originally Posted by flameswin

Most react with "I'm a ****ing human being, who wants to live a normal life with family and friends, and if this is how my life is then why am I living?".

Once you start putting others at risk of serious harm or death, the considerations change. Otherwise, I'd agree the mentally ill should live in the community like everyone else.

The person who is ill deserves sympathy and proper care. But if that's not happening, or if their condition is worse than the professionals acknowledge (ie. running after someone with a knife) steps have to be taken which likely include negative things for the ill person.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Delgar

I'm perplexed by the posters who say leave it to the professionals--- CPS, AHS, etc.. Once someone with mental health issues is running through through your neighborhood threatening someone with a knife, its not time to just sit back and assume everyone involved is doing their jobs. Its time to make an issue of it. Even if there weren't mental health issues, its time to start asking why this person is free. Who made this decision and on what grounds?

The officials involved may have neglected this case, it could be misdiagnosed, it could be mishandled, possibly understaffed, and that this incident happened at all suggests something is not right.

Were this to have happened on my street I'd be all over every official involved, to make sure this is addressed and handled properly, whatever that may lead to. Maybe the person stays, maybe not, but given the violent outburst there is serious cause for concern.

I have no idea if this person should be allowed to still live where they do, but I'd make damn sure to raise enough noise that I know this isn't falling through the cracks, and I'd create a trail of accountability in case something really bad happens.

Yep, and those concerns go to the police, that's who we have in place for things like this. Public has concerns for public safety, public goes to police.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Delgar

Once you start putting others at risk of serious harm or death, the considerations change. Otherwise, I'd agree the mentally ill should live in the community like everyone else.

The person who is ill deserves sympathy and proper care. But if that's not happening, or if their condition is worse than the professionals acknowledge (ie. running after someone with a knife) steps have to be taken which likely include negative things for the ill person.

He clearly stated that the police came out with guns drawn for this latest incident. It's not like AHS officials got a call saying that he had a knife and said "We don't care, we've done our due diligence and everything's fine. Take it higher up if you have concerns".

It sounds like they responded appropriately to a high risk situation and would then pass the info they get from the incident to AHS.

And if MAcDaddy feels there's more to the story, his job is to phone police and add his info, not "phone every official he can think of". That doesn't even make sense. (not sure if that was your post or someone elses that had that in there)