I was reading a great article about police shootings of mentally ill persons. It goes something like this...police are called to help out with a disturbed man and it ends up with the man dead shot multiple times at point blank range. My opinion is that any incident which results in a death is a failure especially of mentally ill people who are not criminals, but are just folks who have a medical situation and need the proper help.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...s-mentally-ill
So the question is if you see someone obviously disturbed not harming anyone is aggression really the way to face these types of people? My experience is that you have to talk these folks down just as if it was a hostage situation. You need to be cool, calm and keep a distance. Yelling, big men in uniforms and firearms usually escalates the situation.
The Priest and the police officer have two different ways of achieving the same result. The Priest enters a situation smiling with their hands out. They listen before they talk. The police officer comes in aggressively oftentimes escalating the situation when it could have been handled by talking from a distance. The Priest way of approaching matters is key to handleing a disturbed person.
In the post 9/11 world, we tend to think like cowboys believing that charging in with guns blazing is the way to approach these matters. However, we need to think like Priests.
The firearm is a tool for sport and self defense to be used when all other measures fail. It is not to be used as a method of control or intimidation.