This is a story of life and death — two 911 calls a day apart to help a man with a mental disability, two different officers respond, and in the first case the man lives and in the second he’s shot dead.
Patrick Warren — the unarmed Black man who was shot and killed in Texas after having an episode that required de-escalation — was able to get the help he needed just one day prior to his death … proving that training makes a world of difference in these situations.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 9TH — Patrick was behaving erratically so a family member called 911 for help. A Mental Health Resource officer with de-escalation training responds, greets Patrick and asks if they could sit on the sofa and talk. The officer listened to Patrick unload his feelings and he began calming down. They continued to talk, and then the officer told Patrick he was concerned about him and maybe it was a good idea to get checked out.
TMZ has obtained new Ring doorbell video (TOP OF POST) from Patrick’s family home, showing the officer and Patrick walk calmly to the car. The officer took Patrick to the hospital where doctors examined him and then he went home.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 10TH Another 911 call, but this time no Mental Health Resource officers were available, so police officers showed up. As you have seen from the video, this went the opposite of de-escalation. Patrick failed to follow orders, so he was tased and ultimately shot dead.
1/10/21
ring.com
Mind you … the 2, 911 calls were for the identical problem with the same person, yet the techniques could not have been more different — nor could the result.
BTW … the Mental Health Resource Unit is part of the Police Department. Maybe one solution would be to increase the number of officers in that unit so they would be available whenever such calls come in.
The cop who shot Patrick has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, but the family and their lawyer, Lee Merritt, demanded he be arrested and fired immediately. They consider what happened murder.