Teen arrested for making suicide threat to a GM

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-02-2009 @ 9:00AM

Easy Writer said...

Just to clear up one possible misperception arising from this story.

In some jurisdictions, when someone is determined to be a treat to themselves or others because of mental illness, police may exercise the power to take the person to a facility for a mental health assessment. This is for their safety and for the safety of the public.

However, it should not be confused with criminality whatsoever. It is really just something of a "secure ambulance" service. In my state, the law doesn't even say "arrest" or "detain", merely "transport to a place of assessment." And certainly the person is not given a criminal record of any kind when transported for psychiatric assessment.

That said, what probably happened in this example is that the kid was really just making idle threats that ultimately triggered a police response that was not necessary. So yes, police in that case may issue a charge of "disturbing the peace" or "uttering threats" or whatever.

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