My friend's 5150

by Mari/PoorNewsNetwork

I woke up from a short nap the other day and glanced at the red framed mirror near my bed- my weary eyes found a note and a one hundred-dollar bill. The note was from my friend Mark. It said, "I do not want to go on living like this," and many other things showing how unhappy he was with his life. The $100 dollars was supposed to be for my broom he accidently broke earlier, "and for anything else". I was left feeling scared, shocked, and unsure of what to do.

I called a mutual friend of ours. I asked her if she had seen Mark. She said she hadn't seen him. Then I told her the story of what had happened, and read her the letter. She was going to contact his mom, and the transitional living program where he used to be a resident. I then called the Suicide Prevention hotline. I told the volunteer the situation. The volunteer told me to call 911.

At this time I was still scared to call 911, because I did not want the cops to come out and hurt, kill, or scare my friend into killing himself. At this time I was supposed to be at a Youth Commission retreat, so I thought maybe Mark went there to go find me or someone else. I called Colleen, the Director of the Youth Commission, to see if Mark was there. I also told her what was going on. She also told me to call 911. Next, I get a call from a staff person from a youth shelter. I told him the situation also, and he told me to call 911.

So, here it is: I dial 9, then 1, and then 1. I am expecting an operator to talk to, but instead I get put on hold. My friend wrote me a note stating he doesn't want to live anymore, and I get put on hold! Then after being on hold for a while, the operator came on and I told him what happened with Mark. He said he was going to send out the cops. I told him I didn't want the cops to come; I wanted the Mobile Crisis Van to come out instead. The operator said he couldn't do that because I didn't even know if Mark was in his room or not. I hung up the phone and started praying that nothing bad would happen to Mark.

Knock, knock, knock was the sound I hear on my door. Two police officers were standing in front of me. ìI called 911,î I said, and the woman asked me ìWhat happened?î While I am telling her the story, she interrupts and asks, ìWhat is this place?î I tell her its apartments. This question has followed me for a year and a few months. I happen to live in the first housing in the nation that was created in the hopes that every tenant would be a houseless youth between the ages of 18-23. So her response was ìOh, there is just so many youth around here." She asked me more questions about what happened. She asked me if Mark had any weapons, or was on drugs. I said no in a heartbeat. I did not want the cops to take Mark as a threat. He might already seem a threat to some cops because he is a tall, black, young man. Then, the male cop asked me, ìWhat happened?î At this point in time, I already explained the whole story of what had happened. So I had to go over the story again. The guy cop asks me, "Is he white or black?" I paused for a minute. I was scared to tell the cops that Mark is black. I didnít know if they would treat Mark different if they knew he was black. I ended up telling him Mark is black.

Next, the cops knocked on the building managerís door, but she wasnít there. At this time, I thought Mark might be in his room, but just not answering the door when I knocked. The female cop kept on stating she didnít want to kick Markís door down. Then one of my neighbors was passing by and said he knew how to break into the apartment. Then I think he realized he just said this to the cops, and so he further explained that he has had to break into his own apartment before, due to being locked out of his place. Then the female cop said, ìI donít care as long as I donít have to kick down that door.î So we all walked down the hallway to Markís apartment. It felt like it took so long to walk down the hallway. Time seemed almost suspended. Then my neighbor opened Markís apartment. Then all of a sudden time seemed to start again when I saw the cops pull out their guns. I started crying and praying in my head, Oh, God please donít let the cops kill Mark. I grabbed onto my friend and he was holding me to give me comfort. I kept on thinking Why do they have their guns out? They are going to hurt Mark.

The cops came out eventually and told me Mark was not in there. Then they asked me if I had a current picture of Mark. The cops said they were going to file a missing persons report, and if I see Mark to call 911 to get him off the missing persons list.

One to two hours passed while I wondered where Mark was and if he was OK. I got a knock on my door, I rushed to my door and I saw Mark. He was all right. I hug him closely, and just thank God my friend is all right. I tell him that the building manager wants to talk to him about what is happening in his life, and that a staff person at Larkin Inn Shelter wants to check in with him. During this time I call 911 again to tell the operator Mark has been found and that he is all right. The operator told me that someone would be coming to the apartment complex to make sure Mark is all right. The operator made it seem like a mental health check was going to be done, and that a mental health professional would be performing it. But, I was so wrong.

My friend tells me she sees a cop car outside, and then I look and see that there are two cops heading towards my building. I walk downstairs to see if the cops are there for Mark. I hope not because I am expecting Mental Health professionals. While I am walking down the stairs, the cops are walking up the stairs. I asked them if they were here for the 911 call. They said yes, and I told them I placed the call. I also told them Mark was across the street and told them to follow me. Then the more plump, uneasy-looking cop says, ìWait, hold up I want to know if this guy is going to run up on me or something.î I thought to myself that I called 911 because Mark wrote me a note that he didnít want to live anymore, that means my friend is not trying to think about hurting other people, only himself. I wanted to scream at this cop and tell him: How dare you come into a situation where a person needs help and you are thinking of him like a criminal already? That your first reaction is he is going to run up on you, and not is he OK? Then I wanted to tell him he should take the Police Crisis Intervention training on how to deal with people who are mentally ill. But I tell the cop ìNo. He is not going to hurt anyone.î Then the same cop asks me, ìDoes he have any weapons? Is he on drugs?î Again I say no to both questions. So we walk across the street and Mark comes out of Larkin Inn Shelter.

The cops' first reaction is to handcuff Mark's wrists. Mark says over and over ìWhy am I being handcuffed? I do not want to be handcuffed.î I ask the cops, ìWhy is he being handcuffed?î The plump cop's response is, ìThis is mandatory policy, we do this to protect ourselves, and protect you. You are not under arrest. You are being detained.î I keep on stating, ìHe does not need to be handcuffed.î The plump cop states, ìYes he does. He might try to run out into the street to get hit by a car, and then he dies.î Then I thought, Markís hands are cuffed, not his feet. He can still run if he really wanted to. Then the other skinny-looking cop says, ìWe are going to take you to the hospital to get some help.î Then all of a sudden a light bulb goes off in my head and I understand what is happening: the cops are pulling a 5150 on Mark. A 5150 is where a person is involuntarily taken to the hospital in order to have a 72-hour psychiatric evaluation.

Mark said, ìCan we at least go inside the apartment building instead of being outside on the street?î The cops said ìNo.î Mark said, ìI want to talk to someone in charge.î Then the cops called for their Sergeant to come out. Then the plump cop said, ìWhile we are waiting, letís put you in the patrol cruiser.î Then Colleen and I very loudly and clearly said ìWhy?î The plump copís explanation was that Mark seemed vulnerable. That someone could just come up and kick him or hurt him. Then I said, ìBut you canít even tell that he has handcuffs on because his back is towards the wall.î Then the cop gave up trying to put him in his car. Then Mark said, ìI donít need to be handcuffed. Why am I handcuffed?î Then the plump cop said, ìBecause you might go inside that building and kill twenty people.î Colleen and I were disgusted by what this cop had just said. Then we spoke up about his comment. Then of course the plump cop tried to justify what he had just said. During all this I ask the plump cop ìAre you pulling a 5150?î He says, ìI have to see what my Sergeant says.î Then the skinny cop pulled me aside to talk to me. He was telling me that Mark has go to the hospital. The hospital will decide if Mark is mentally ill, and at the hospital they will take off the handcuffs. He wanted me to talk to Mark and make him understand that he needs to go to the hospital.

Then shortly after the Sergeant finally came and confirmed that Mark needed to go to General Hospital. So, the cops put Mark in the back of the patrol cruiser and waited for Colleen and I to follow them. Colleen and I got in her car and waited for the patrol cruiser to move. The cop car started to drive off, and we followed.

We arrived at General Hospital. The cops checked Mark into General hospital. They told Colleen and I to wait in the lobby, and that they would be back in two minutes. Well, it was way longer than two minutes, but they eventually came out and gave me a number to call to talk to someone in the psychiatric ward about Mark.

All in all, I am glad that Mark went to the hospital to receive help. He can actually admit he has a mental illness. He goes to therapy. The thing that makes me uneasy is the way he got to the hospital. Why did he have to be handcuffed and driven in a cop car? Mark was treated like a criminal, not as a person who just needed help. My friend is now traumatized and humiliated by this event.

I asked Mark to reflect on this event in his life and how he sees police interaction with people who are going through a psychiatric crisis. His response was, "Too many people have lost their lives because of their interactions with the police, because of their lack of training in psychiatric crisis situations."