ESCONDIDO
The fatal police shooting Wednesday of a mentally ill homeless man once again exposes the difficulties of trying to balance a person’s right to choose how they live even when those choices put them and others at risk, homeless advocates said.
“I think it highlights the need for trauma-informed care for people on the street to avoid things like this happening,” said Greg Anglea, executive director of Escondido-based Interfaith Community Services. “We should not have to rely upon cops to be the first responders to mental health conditions. We really need to provide mental health specialists to be able to prevent these sort of things from happening and, when they do happen, to be there to support the response.”