Budget push to train police on handling the mentally ill

[hrmjustin]

Laura Nahmias

ALBANY—When Binghamton police shot and killed a 56-year-old diagnosed schizophrenic named Peter Sablich more than seven years ago, it prompted some soul-searching in Broome County.

Sablich, an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, set a fire in his own house on a cold night in 2006. He could have been committing arson, or he may have been trying to warm himself, said Lori Accardi, executive director of Catholic Charities of Broome County, the social services agency where Sablich used to receive treatment.

When police and firefighters responded to 911 calls about the fire, Sablich, who spoke little English, came out of his home with an object in his hands, and officers drew their weapons, calling on him to drop his own. He didn’t.

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/03/8542397/budget-push-train-police-handling-mentally-ill