I just learned about Andrea Churna. What a tragic and depressing event. It hurts to know she'd likely still be alive if she (a) didn't call the police for help or (b) didn't have a gun to protect herself.

I had a relative who was a police officer (not in WA), and their training consisted of being shown multiple videos of every which way a police officer can be killed from multiple positions a person may be standing, sitting, or lying down in, handcuffed or not. They were also shown real cases and dash cam footage of police officers being killed in routine traffic stops and other would-be benign situations.

A common supported and encouraged sentiment in the force (and one my relative shared) is, "It's better them dead than me. I don't want my family losing a spouse, parent, and income source. If there's any chance they could be a danger, you best believe I'm going to protect my family's future first."

They are trained to fear everybody and protect themselves and their family first.

Body cams are also a logistical nightmare (offloading and charging cams at the station, offloading videos from the cams onto their local server, offloading the videos from the local server to an offsite archive, etc.) which is why a lot of cops hate them and fight to not have to implement them. A proposal means nothing until it's implemented, but I hope they do get implemented.

Them saying it isn't safe for a mental health professional to be on scene is rich however, because they view people with mental health issues as dangerous by default. They'll never have a mental health professional out in the field if a dangerous situation is all that is needed to keep them away. Only having one is also a clear sign that they're either not used or are spread way too thin to actually be effective at anything at all.

Police officers will never be the correct response to mental health crises. If 911 is called on someone experiencing a mental health crisis (even if it's just a wellness check), their chances of being killed (by police) rather than helped skyrocket. We need to have a separate department akin to police and fire departments, except for responding to mental health crises. Other countries are starting to explore options akin to this, like the "Ministry of Loneliness" in Japan. Other cities are actually doing this like Denver, Colorado's STAR program, which is already proving to be a great boon to society.

Firefighters put their lives on the line to protect people because it's worth protecting people. A mental health department would put their lives on the line to protect people experiencing mental health crises because it's worth protecting people. Police officers are specifically trained to not put their lives on the line if they can avoid it, and this stance makes them completely unsuited to helping people experiencing a mental health crisis.

The situation isn't easy, and our solutions are too slow and inadequate. The state of society depresses me. The state of our police force depresses me. There are so many good people out there who venture to become good cops only to (a) be forced out for doing their jobs correctly, (b) never be offered promotions or raises because they're doing their jobs correctly, or (c) conform to the shitty culture already established at the station.