Posts Tagged: 911

Pressure mounts on how police handle mental-health crises

A modified image from a dash cam video taken at the May 2017 shooting of Mikel McIntyre. (Sacramento Sheriff's Department video)

by SIGRID BATHEN posted 07.20.2020

On the afternoon of May 8, 2017, the family of 32-year-old Mikel McIntyre called 911 for help in dealing with his increasingly erratic and threatening behavior. The former high school and college athlete, who lived in Antioch and had briefly played baseball in the minor leagues, had been showing signs of serious mental illness, and his mother was concerned. She hoped a visit with family in Sacramento might help. The first call, shortly after 3 p.m., indicated a possible mental-health crisis: McIntyre had locked himself in a vehicle and was being “slightly combative,”

Brown: New money needed to boost 911 system

A fire truck, a first responder to emergencies, crosses a Los Angeles intersection. (Photo: Walter Cicchetti, via Shutterstock)

by JESSICA HICE posted 08.03.2018

The administration plans to modify an existing tax on phone calls to include a flat fee — estimated initially at 34 cents per line — on cellphones, landlines and other devices capable of contacting 911. More than $175 million is expected to generate from this in the first year, with the possibility of growing to $400 million in later years.

Better telecom rules help older adults, too

Using a cell phone at a California beach to capture an image of a pier. (Photo: DCornelius, via Shutterstock)

by GARY PASSMORE posted 04.13.2016

OPINION: The conventional wisdom, promoted by some advocacy groups when it suits their purposes, is that seniors are sad, helpless creatures who prefer to sit on the couch clutching their turntables and rotary phones, in front of black and white television sets, searching for reruns of Lawrence Welk. These demeaning attitudes are far from true.