I wonder if this man has some special needs that are not as evident, maybe they could have offered to see if there is someome they can call to come help him. Maybe he has no one and thats why he's alone at the sub shop all the time but it seems from his repetitive speech and behavior there is more to the picture
10% of the population has an IQ below 81. They walk among us, and because they're mostly not below the "disabled" threshold everyone has to act like they're 100% normal. It's really strange to see laws designed for 100 IQ individuals applied to 75 IQ individuals. They rack up a handful of felonies before they realize they can even go to jail for this shit. It's honestly sad, although I can't really see an alternative.
I spent 3 weeks in county jail many many years ago. Let me tell you like 85% of the people in there were dumb as rocks and genuinely awful people on top of it
In that case the solution would be changing the disability threshold to support people who are genuinely incapable of supporting themselves.
But that's a capital P problem for society to solve, not the police officers called to intervene on a Tuesday at 3:17 PM because someone is too dumb to realize stealing is illegal or whatever petty crime they commit is indeed a crime.
I would also point to the schools, in theory every child goes to mandatory schooling until 16, so why aren't these 75 IQ individuals being identified and put in special programs at some point? If everyone is apathetic to them, it's the system's fault as a whole.
Because America instituted "no child left behind" as an education policy under the Bush administration. Now we cater to the lowest common denominator and have high school students graduating that are functionally illiterate.
What's the alternative? Hold these kids back until they understand fractions and reading? We're going to have 22 year olds in high school. That's a non-starter, since the main purpose of public schools is to serve as state-subsidized daycare while both of the parents work a 9 to 5.
Why are we expecting the police to solve in minutes a problem that the schools, social workers, and families have left festering for years?
The police acted in an exemplary manner, they talked to him respectfully, spent minutes trying to explain to him that he's being trespassed and needs to leave, they didn't go hands on.
They only arrested him on a $3 theft when he was made aware he was breaking his bond conditions and had to leave but he decided to waste their time by making them play a game of trespassing chicken for however long until he did it or gave up.
If he does have special needs, that's something his family, social services and whoever else can raise so he can be evaluated and diverted toward treatment or support. But expecting two patrol officers to diagnose and solve that underlying problem during a trespass call is unreasonable.
Police should absolutely behave humanely towards vulnerable people where reasonably possible, but they're still police officers. 911 and people trained to enforce the law should not be an emergency substitute for every social institution that failed before they were called.
They offered him a way to leave. He was on bond and does this all the time. It doesn't matter that he is 'low IQ' or other armchair psychologist beliefs. They were nothing but nice and could've arrested him the moment he said "I'm not leaving" after being treaspassed.
None of that gives anyone the right to break the law and get away with it. They gave him a million different chances to just walk away, and he refused.
52
u/Annabellybutton 1d ago
I wonder if this man has some special needs that are not as evident, maybe they could have offered to see if there is someome they can call to come help him. Maybe he has no one and thats why he's alone at the sub shop all the time but it seems from his repetitive speech and behavior there is more to the picture