#watkins family hour | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

krispyweiss · 11 months

Text

Jackson Browne at Palace Theatre, Columbus, Ohio, June 3, 2023

With a fat songbook so packed with quality deep cuts and hits that he can’t possibly play all - or even most - of them, Jackson Browne walked on stage unannounced and by his lonesome June 3 in Columbus and kicked off his U.S. tour with …

… a solo-electric cover of Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick.”

It was an unexpected, gutsy and successful move that immediately won over the nearly sold-out Palace Theatre. It elicited warm applause as Browne sang Zevon’s prayer and immediately established his 74-year-old voice is much younger than its chronological age:

Don’t let us get sick, don’t let us get old/don’t let us get stupid, all right/just make us be brave and make us play nice/and let us be together tonight

It set the tone for a loose evening that found Browne engaging with the audience, teasing his guitar tech and heaping well-deserved praise upon the members of his freshly pared-down group.

After the Zevon number, Browne brought out his powerhouse “half-full band” - Greg Leisz (Watkins Family Hour, Bob Weir and Wolf Bros) on lap steel, acoustic and electric guitars; his wife, Mai Leisz, (David Crosby) on bass; drummer Mauricio Lewak; and singers Chavonne Stewart and Alethea Mills (who doubled on percussion) - and got right down to business with the show proper, which was generous across 60- and 90-minute sets.

Saying “I wanna play them all,” but knowing he couldn’t possibly do so, Browne, who accompanied his bandmates on acoustic and electric guitars and piano, did cover 49 years of music making, crafting a setlist that spanned from 1972’s “Doctor My Eyes” to 2021’s “Downhill from Everywhere,” a warning about the oceans’ fragile health and one of many highlights of the evening.

The reggae-tinged “I Am a Patriot” was another. Though released in 1985, the song seems to have intuited where the United States was headed. And Browne added some new lyrics - I ain’t no xenophobe, he sang - to place it even more firmly in the context of 2023.

Band members came and went to suit the songs. Stewart and Mills - who sang beautifully on occasional co-leads and in harmony with Browne, with whom they’ve developed an almost-familial blend - left their riser and joined the songwriter down front for “Until Justice is Real.” Greg Leisz and Browne played as a steel-and-piano duo on “Walls and Doors” and the (half) full band dug into “Running on Empty” so deeply that Browne kicked his leg high in the air and turned to stare down Leisz as he offered his take on the solo made famous by David Lindley, who died earlier this year.

Being the first night of the tour with a new band and a new set, there were a few hiccups. A muffed note here. Some not-quite-honed arrangements there. The occasional false start and botched lyrics. And Leisz’s pedal-steel guitar sat lonely and untouched all evening long, suggesting Browne was calling audibles as the night unfolded.

Someone wanting to hear the records in a concert hall might say these things were evidence of Browne losing his edge. Someone out for the without-a-net experience (put Sound Bites in this camp) might revel in the not-set-in-stone nature that led to such surprises as Browne deciding the first set wasn’t long enough and tacking “For Everyman” on to the end and causing Mai Leisz to run back on stage after assuming break time had come.

The same thing happened to Greg Leisz at show’s end, when Browne opted to play “The Load-Out”/“Stay” and the multi-instrumentalist - who wowed Browne and the concertgoers all evening long - struggled to get his lap steel situated on time. He made it with less than a bar to spare and Browne rewarded Leisz by calling on him to extend his solo, which he did to rapturous applause.

See more photos on Sound Bites’ Facebook page.

Grade card: Jackson Browne at Palace Theatre - 6/3/23 - A-

6/4/23

#jackson browne #2023 concerts #greg leisz #watkins family hour #mai leisz #david crosby #david lindley #mauricio lewak #warren zevon #chavonne stewart #alethea mills

3 notes · View notes

patiencesinners · 1 year

Photo

seancwatkin: Feeling some serious gratitude and love for this incredibly talented gang of friends/heroes that joined us for last night’s @watkinsfamilyhour Holiday show at @thesorayastage and for everyone who bought a ticket and came out.❤️

@ The Soraya

#rachel white #brendon urie #Panic! at the Disco #The Soraya #watkins family hour #mike viola #Jake Sinclair

11 notes · View notes

coochiequeens · 7 months

Text

A 15 year old girl is dead because a 17 year old boy couldn't accept that his relationship with another girl is over.

Hero schoolgirl, 15, was stabbed to death on Croydon bus in horrific rush-hour attack 'when she stepped in to protect her friend who got into row with her ex-boyfriend when he turned up with flowers and love note': Emotional tributes are paid at the scene

By JAMES FIELDING and RORY TINGLE,

A 15-year-old schoolgirl who was stabbed to death this morning on her way to school was trying to stop a fight between her friend and her ex-boyfriend, witnesses have claimed.

Tonight the girl, who was a pupil at Old Palace of John Whitgift School in Croydon, has been named locally as Eliyanna. She was attacked at 8.30am - less than a mile away from the school gates.

Locals say they saw a group of schoolchildren getting off the No 60 bus outside the Whitgift Centre, where a row between the girl, wearing a green school blazer, and the boy - in a black blazer - 'spilled out' on to a street busy with pedestrians.

It was previously claimed that the girl had been attacked after she 'refused to go out' with the boy and 'rejected his offers of flowers', but it has now been claimed he was in fact trying to speak with her friend.

The friend had been trying to hand the boy back a bag of his belongings while he tried to give her flowers when the fight broke out, seeing the victim attempt to intervene, witnesses said.

This afternoon, a love note with the words 'special girl' and 'princess' written on it, along with blood stained red roses, were being examined by forensic officers. The note was then removed from the scene.

Chevanice Thomas, whose friend claims to have witnessed the stabbing, said the girl had rejected flowers from the boy moments before he attacked her with a knife that resembled 'a sword'. Another witness claimed she heard a girl saying she 'didn't want to go out with him any more'.

The bus driver and a passenger tried desperately to save the girl's life but she died at the scene at 9.21am. Community worker James Watkins said the girl's 'devastated' family were summoned to the scene this morning but were 'unable to make it' in time to say goodbye to their daughter.

Officers arrested a 17-year-old boy in nearby New Addington at 9.45am. Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent Andy Brittain said police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.

Old Palace of John Whitgift School is a selective independent day school for girls aged three to 18. It is consistently ranked as one the best in London and is a sister school to Whitgift School for Boys. It is not yet clear which school the boy attended.

One witness to the attack claimed she saw a boy and a girl arguing, with a girl saying she 'didn't want to go out with him any more'.

The woman, who asked not to be identified, continued: 'There were about seven or eight children who got off a bus which stopped outside the Whitgift Centre.

'There was a young girl and young boy arguing. He had flowers with him and they were arguing about the girl breaking up with him yesterday.'

Those who knew Eliyanna said she had a bright future ahead of her, on track to pass all of her GCSES later in the school year.

Anthony King, chair of the My Ends organisation which works with the Met Police in Croydon said: 'The victim was absolutely incredible with a very bright future. A very comedic young lady.

'The word I think that was used was jovial. She was on track to pass all of her GCSEs. She was very articulate.'

The girl's family had tried to rush to her side upon hearing that she had been hurt, but tragically arrived to late.

Mr Watkins, who works at the youth prevention and intervention programmes at Mainz World, added: 'It's disgusting, when we look at these children being killed that are from the borough it hurts you in the heart. These could be our kids, it's devastating.'

Amongst those who witnessed the stabbing were two girls, said to be the victims best friends.

Mr King added: 'Two 15 year old girls were absolutely devastated by witnessing their very close friend being stabbed. They're still being interviewed by police.'

Michael Fyffe, who witnessed the attack, told Sky News: 'I turned around and could see that someone was trying to resuscitate her.

'There were loads of people who had just come off the bus and then I think two of the girl's friends came out and they were trying to rush over towards the body.

'So myself and a few of the other people tried to hold her back and just say, ''Look let them try and help your friends" and she was just screaming, "Is my friend dead? She's my best friend".'

Speaking to journalists at the scene, Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent Andy Brittain said officers were not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.

'This is every parent's worst nightmare, and I know the officers who responded this morning, along with our emergency service colleagues, are devastated at the victim's death,' he said.

'This is an emotion I share and I know people across Croydon will be feeling the same.

'The victim's family has been informed and our thoughts are with them at what must be an incredibly difficult time.

'We carried out urgent inquiries to find the suspect and within 75 minutes of the incident happening a 17-year-old boy was arrested in New Addington. He remains in custody and will be questioned by detectives.

'We remain in the early stages of our investigation, however based on what we know so far we believe that we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this offence.

'From our initial inquiries, we believe the suspect may have known the victim. However, we're not in a position to release the victim's identity at this time.'

A mother-of-two, who asked to be named only as Bridget, said: 'I was on the bus before and came off and walked back down, I saw them resuscitating her.

'The driver was holding her, and a lady. The emergency services were already here when I walked back.'

She said two other schoolgirls, believed to be the victim's friends, were trying to get back through the police cordon but were held back.

Victor Asare was on a bus on the way home from a night shift as a security worker when he said he saw a boy in a black blazer stab a girl in the neck with a knife which was 'black, thin and about a foot long'.

The 50-year-old said: 'The boy wore a black blazer, the girl wore green. It looked like the girl didn't want the boy to come closer.'

He then described the boy stabbing the girl in the neck with a black knife.

'A lot of people came, everyone came off the bus,' he said. '[The boy] ran away. Everybody was crying and screaming. The girl was on the floor.

'We tried to catch him and a lot of people tried to save the girl. I was so shocked, I was shaken. It's somebody's daughter.

'I finished work but couldn't sleep, so came back, I wanted to see if the girl was OK.'

Croydon MP Sarah Jones attended the police press conference alongside Croydon mayor Jason Perry.

See complete article

#London #Male violence #The ex was trying to give him back his stuff in public for a reason #He brought flowers a love note and a big knife to meet the girl who was breaking up with him #He stabbed her in the neck

14 notes · View notes

darklydeliciousdesires · 1 year

Text

The Dream - Chapter Six.

Happy Monday, besties! So, I thought I would treat you all to another double update today, just to try and get this story moving along a little better. The last one was really well received, too, so we’ll do as last time and split the 40 notes unlock over both chapters. Enjoy!

Previous chapters - Prologue One Two Three Four Five

Tag list - In the comments, please DM to be added/removed (note: those not engaging will be automatically removed from the tag list, FYI)

Words - 2,614

Warnings - 18+ content throughout, minors DNI!

“So, did you tell him about all this then, your stepdad?” Angel asked, when Keri had spoken briefly of her family dynamic, revealing that she was actually much closer with David than she was her mom, on account of his laid-back nature. Meryl Watkins was nothing short of a little tightly wound at times.

“No not yet, but I probably will. David's cool, much more open minded than my mom so if it's anyone I tell, it'll be him. Only a few of my friends know so far. Frankie and her girlfriend Jaime as you know, and my other girl, Rachel. I didn't tell the boys yet, I have no idea how they'd react to it!” Just the thought set off a soft alarm in her head, the teasing she was likely to receive, especially from Aaron.

Angel could definitely identify with her. “Yeah, I know that feeling. There's only two people who I’ve told, EZ and his wife, Sharise.” Jamming his cell under his ear, he poured himself a drink, tequila and a splash of soda. “So are your mom and dad divorced or something?”

“No, my dad died when I was nine, sadly. He was sick for about a year before he went, he had colon cancer and there was nothing they could do. He was so miserable towards the end that I think his death was a blessing to him. It's really hard to lose a parent, you have to grow up so fast,” she revealed, with Angel nodding heavily in agreement.

“I understand that. My mom died when I was twenty-seven, she was killed in a robbery gone wrong. It was fucking rough, losing her like that, but at least I was an adult when it happened. I can’t imagine how shit that must’ve been for you, to only be nine years old when you lost your dad.” She could barely believe it had been thirteen years, sometimes.

“Oh my god, Angel,” she gasped after hearing of his own parental loss. “That’s tragic, I’m so sorry.”

“Could have been much worse, I could have been a little kid still, like you were,” he reasoned. “But thanks, though.”

“Even though I was just a little kid, my mom never shielded me from any of it. I knew he had cancer, she explained to me gently in a way I could understand what it was doing to his body and all the treatments he had to go through. The chemo, the radiotherapy, the eventual removal of half his colon and bowels. She always said it was pointless hiding from me and trying to make it look less bad than it was, that she wouldn’t insult my intelligence by doing so.

“She's always been a great believer that children understand much more than we give them credit for, and she was right. I guess that if there was an upside to his death, it was that gave me a lot of strength, losing him when I did. I learned how to process grief very early, deal with all those emotions, too. Mom really helped me through that, as well. She was my rock in the aftermath.

“I remember the night before he died, he was so sick and so weak, but he hauled me up onto the bed and sat and talked to me for hours. He told me that because I was just like him, I'd go far in life, and no matter that he wouldn't physically be there to see it, he'd always be by my side.” Her explanation faltered a little, her voice quivering as she remembered her beloved father. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to start blubbering there. Here's me going on about how strong it made me, right before I start crying.”

Angel was quick to reassure her. “Even the strongest people in the world cry sometimes. It makes you human. Are you okay?”

She took a breath, getting out of bed and going to her drawer to pull out her cigarettes, needing a little calming hit of nicotine. “Yeah, I just get upset sometimes when I talk about him. He was amazing and I miss him so much,” she sniffed, the tears still gushing from her eyes as she flung the window open, lighting up, watching the snow beginning to tumble down. Again.

“It's totally understandable, you know. I feel sad when I think about my mom and how much I miss her, nothing can fill the void you feel when you lose one of the people that brought you into this world in the first place,” he empathised. “Damn, I wish we were asleep right now.”

Flicking her ash, she took another drag on her cigarette. “Why?”

“So that I could hug you, you sound like you need one.” Oh, how cute?

'I do, and I need some sleep too, now you come to mention it. I have to be up and out of the house again in five hours to catch the sunrise and take photographs for a little commission I have. Someone I work with at the chocolate shop wants a nice picture as a going away present for their friend, who is leaving for Nebraska at the end of next week.”

“Sounds like we could both do with resting our heads, then. Hopefully, I’ll see you soon?”

She smiled, feeling a little buzz of excitement. “Yeah, here’s hoping.” She took another drag on her cigarette before flicking it out of the window, going to wash the smell from her hands and brushing her teeth too, returning to her room and spritzing the air with her pillow mist before climbing into bed. “I want to dream of him, I want to see him.” She repeated in her mind, until eventually, she drifted off.

“Yo, dumbass. I’m right here.” he called to her as she looked around the busy city, people bustling along the sidewalk and cars racing by quickly. She turned to see him sat on a low wall, smiling that beautiful smile at her.

“You don't know me well enough to call me dumbass yet.” Her scold was playful, her smile sweet, happy to see him there. As she approached, all the cars and people suddenly vanished, and it was just them. Like an A-bomb had gone off, and they were the only two survivors.

“I know you well enough to do this when you're upset, though.” Jumping down, he folded his arms around her, making her feel instantly safe and warm.

“In that case, I think I'll let the dumbass comment slide.” Kissing his chest, she felt the hard muscle press against her cheek, drinking in the moment there with him. She could feel the lines between reality and dreams starting to blur with every dream that passed. It was scary, it was strange, but most of all it was exciting.

It thrilled her to see where their dreams would take them next, and still wonder the one resounding question; why? Why did they act like lovers in dreams for one thing? It was something Keri was too afraid to ask, yet she thought about it constantly. Were her dreams trying to point her in his direction? Could he possibly be the one she belonged with, and this was her way of finding him?

Was the answer she searched for truly that simple?

“Whatcha thinking about, tiny?” he asked, unfolding his arms from around her and holding her hand as they began to walk up the deserted street. Tiny she was, compared to him. He was almost a foot taller than she.

“Why I'm here, with you, night after night. What's the meaning behind it all?” she mused, looking up at him as they walked.

“I've been asking myself the same thing,” he revealed, squeezing her hand softly. “My brother had an interesting theory. He thinks that at some point, our paths are gonna cross in reality, and all of this is just a way of letting us see it's gonna happen.”

“Well, they kind of have, haven’t they? We’ve been messaging, and speak on the phone now, don't we? That’s us crossing paths, in a roundabout sort of way,” she commented.

He gave her a soft shove in the shoulder as they rounded the corner, walking onto the next empty street. “I think he meant something a little more significant, like us actually meeting one another.”

“Is that something you’d like, then? For us to actually meet?” She felt a little sick with nerves, waiting on his response, because she knew, she knew for herself that she very much wanted to meet him. Suddenly, though, she felt something begin to pull at her, grasping his arm tightly. “I want to stay asleep. I want to stay here.” She whispered, feeling Angel wrap his arm around her.

“Maybe this'll help keep you here.” Leaning to her, he kissed her softly, Keri wrapping her arms around his neck. It did keep her there, but not for long, the dream beginning to spiral completely out of her control. When she opened her eyes again, she was surrounded by nothing but pitch-black darkness, straining her eyes as she spun around, trying to gather her bearings. Suddenly, a light came on, Keri turning to see Angel smiling at her.

“Look at you, being my light in the dark,” she commented, smiling as he reached for her hands.

He pulled her close, resting his forehead to hers. “Something tells me you’re gonna be my light in the dark, you know.” He kissed her head, smiling down at her. “And yeah, I do wanna meet you in real life. Might have to see what Utah is like at this time of year.” Her heart almost beat clean out of her chest, the happiness of the moment waking her, Keri blinking a few times into the darkness of her room.

‘It would be fantastic, to actually meet you x’

With that message sent, she closed her eyes and drifted off back into slumber. Not enough slumber for her liking either, up and awake four hours later, watching the sun come up with her bestie.

“Here, I made it extra strong.” Passing her the second cup from her Thermos, Frankie then handed over the foil wrapped breakfast she’d prepared too, halving an omelette and putting them between a bread roll each, Keri’s favourite of her creations.

“Thanks, homeslice. I need it!” she replied, as they sat down on a fallen log to take a break. It had just turned 5.30am, and both still felt half asleep after their 4am start. Frankie had agreed to come out with her to add to her portfolio, not having enough nice sunrise pictures in there for her liking, since she was the very antithesis of a morning person. “Guess who called me last night?”

“Hmmmm.” She made a show of looking thoughtful, but of course, it wasn’t that hard to guess. “Big Latino dude with lots of tattoos and a huge motorcycle, per chance?” At seeing Keri's smile widen, she put her arm around her, thinking it very cute, how into him she seemed, now she’d settled into the idea a little more of what was happening between them in her sleep. It was nice, not to bear witness to her being so freaked out by it that she was crying and throwing up.

“We talked for about two hours, and we found we have quite a bit in common. It was good, settling, made it all feel a little more normal when in truth, these mutual dreams we met through are anything but.”

Frankie smiled widely through her mouthful of sandwich, chewing quickly so she could reply. “That’s cute!”

“Yeah, yeah he seems really nice. After the phone call, we mutual dreamed again, and he told me that he wants to actually meet me, he mentioned coming up here. So, I guess I have a new friend there, or whatever.”

“Or whatever,” she snorted in disbelief, rolling her eyes. “He’s into you.”

Keri scoffed a little. “Doubtful! I mean god, look at the guy. He has a hoard of women all over his Insta, they’re always leaving him comments about how gorgeous he is, and he flirts back with them. Nah. What would a thirty-six-year-old with plenty of female attention want with a twenty-two-year-old student who lives over seven hundred miles away.”

Frankie stared at her with incredulity. “Oh, you sweet, summer child, Keri.”

“What?” she laughed softly. “I mean, he’s flirty with me, and I am with him too, but really? Me? When he has an abundance of women around him already?”

“You never see yourself for how desirable you are, do you? Both in looks and personality.” She gave her an up and down look, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. “If you weren’t like a sister to me, I’d hit it.”

She all but choked on her coffee. “Dude!”

“Face it, beets. Angel not only desires you, but he wants to meet you because he likes you. Why would he be prepared to travel over seven hundred miles when, as you state, he has a hoard of women he could get his dick sucked by right on his doorstep, if there wasn’t something else special about you, hmm?”

Keri shrugged softly. “I guess there’s validity in that, but...”

“But you always downplay yourself because you get all nervous with guys.” Again, valid.

“I do, I know!” she wailed softly. “And he’s like, an actual, proper man! It’s scary!”

“Oh, don’t talk crap!” Frankie snorted. “I mean, I don’t speak from personal experience, but men aren’t that complicated, are they? If you have good game with the cock then it should be fine, and from what you’ve told me about that sex dream you had, it sounds like you have that already. Mans wants himself the real thing. Harness it, baby girl. Reel him in!”

“I still feel nervy,” she spoke, Frankie knowing that of course, she would. Keri was quite shy around guys, and she always had been. It took her a while to settle into things whenever she met a new one.

“Well, you could get over the nerves. I mean, these dreams you have with him, think of them like a practice run to what I suspect will follow after you have actually met up?”

“I still feel embarrassed then, when we’ve been like that in sleep!” The look on her bestie’s face had her giggling, draining her coffee as she stood up, starting to tinker with her camera. “However, I guess I do hear what you’re saying there. He told me that it’s only a dream, so just go with it, but he’d back off if it made me feel uncomfortable.”

Frankie poured herself another coffee, smiling with surprise. “Even when asleep, he’s got respect for you in a moment that isn’t even happening outside of your combined imaginations. I like this dude. I guess if it does go well, he has a hell of a reward for his nocturnal patience, though. I mean, you are somewhat of a sex fiend when you get comfortable with a guy.”

Her grin said it all, Keri having her in fits, especially with the rapid, suggestive double raise of her eyebrows. “I do like the D, this is true.”

“From the gay standpoint, ewww, but you have at it, girly,” Frankie laughed. As they went about their early morning photographic endeavours, Keri began to think on her friend’s words, about liking the sound of Angel, acknowledging how much she did as well. As their dream lives began to all move very much in one direction, she found that liking doing nothing but escalate, too.

#angel reyes #angel reyes fanfiction #angel reyes smut #angel reyes imagine #angel reyes x ofc #angel reyes fanfic #angel reyes fic #mayans mc #mayans mc fanfiction #mayans mc smut #mayans mc imagine #mayans mc fanfic #mayans mc fic

38 notes · View notes

thestressedsimmer · 7 months

Text

March 1311

Henford on Bagley raided Windenberg in the early hours of the morning. Using horses and torches, they burned all of Lykke Center.

The buildings that are irreparably damaged are as follows: The Windenberg Bathhouse The First Windenberg Church Both Tagaryen Family Homes.

There were many causalities. Among them is the king's own sister - the dear Princess Elizabeth.

The king is beside himself and her husband - Watkin - is preparing the funeral as is befitting a princess of our great nation.

#tw: warfare #tw: war #tw: death #tw: fire #ts4 #the sims 4 #sims 4 #sims 4 ultimate decades challenge #ultimate decades challenge #morbid's ultimate decades challenge #udc #1311 #windenberg #1311 windenberg

12 notes · View notes

thoughtportal · 7 months

Text

When a call to the police for help turns deadly

In at least 178 cases over three years, law enforcement killed the individuals they were called to assist

By Jon Gerberg and

Alice Li

June 22, 2022

SAN ANTONIO — Brendan Daniels tried to find help for his brother.

Damian Daniels was alone in his San Antonio home in the throes of a mental health crisis. The 30-year-old Black combat veteran had grown increasingly depressed after the recent deaths of his sister, father and uncle in quick succession. The stress and isolation of the pandemic had been wearing on him, too. But when he began sending paranoid, delusional text messages to his brother 800 miles away in Colorado, Brendan felt that it was time for someone to intervene.

UNACCOUNTABLE

An examination of policing in America amid the push for reform.

Explore more stories in this series.

Listen to Broken Doors:

The Post’s latest podcast investigates no-knock search warrants.

Brendan was wary of calling the police. It was August 2020, three months since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis ignited nationwide outrage over the issue of police violence against Black people. He decided to call the Red Cross, a safer option he thought, but the Red Cross then called 911 to initiate a welfare check.

Bexar County sheriff’s deputies visited Damian Daniels three times over the next 48 hours. The first two visits ended without incident. However, the third encounter escalated after deputies lunged at Daniels, who was standing in his doorway wearing a holstered, legally owned firearm.

The tussle ended when one of the officers, John Rodriguez, fired two shots into Daniels’s chest, killing him. Nearly two years later, his family is still searching for answers.

“This should have never happened,” Annette Watkins, Daniels’s mother, told The Washington Post. “We shouldn’t be living in a society where you call for help and be killed.”

A new investigation by The Post reveals at least 178 cases from 2019 to 2021 in which calls for help resulted in law enforcement officers shooting and killing the very people they were called on to assist. We used The Post’s nationwide database of fatal police shootings along with public reporting to identify cases in which the callers were concerned primarily for the individuals’ well-being and no imminent harm to others was reported.

Many of the calls alerted authorities to people in mental health crises, requested wellness checks or reported suicide threats. The calls came from the distressed individuals themselves or were made by worried family members, friends or neighbors. Police responses to calls for help are often routine, but, in the cases The Post identified, they turned deadly. Experts say that more needs to be done to protect those in crisis.

“If your family member is in pain, you should be able to pick up that phone and dial 911 and get help that is effective and safe,” said Christy Lopez, a policing expert at Georgetown Law School.

“We need to reject this idea that you can have a safe response or a law enforcement response,” she said. “We need to create a world in which you have a safe law enforcement response.”

Unaccountable: More on policing in America

The Washington Post’s investigation into policing in America has been ongoing since 2015, when The Post began logging every fatal shooting by an on-duty police officer in the United States.

The hidden cost of police misconduct: The Post collected data on nearly 40,000 payments at 25 of the nation’s largest police and sheriff’s departments within the past decade to uncover thousands of police officers whose alleged repeated misconduct cost taxpayers $1.5 billion.

Video: No-knock raids, considered one of the most dangerous and intrusive policing tactics, have been at the center of a debate in recent years over police use of force. At least 22 people have been killed by police nationwide carrying out no-knock warrants since 2015, according to a Post investigation.

Podcast: Hosted by Jenn Abelson and Nicole Dungca, “Broken Doors” is a six-part investigative podcast about how no-knock warrants are deployed in the American justice system — and what happens when accountability is flawed at every level.

Curbing crime: A crime-reduction strategy abandoned by Louisville police after thefatal shooting of Breonna Taylor has since spread to other major U.S. cities, gaining favor with police chiefs for its potential to reduce violent crime despite its ties to the case that sparked widespread calls for police reform.

Community oversight: Police nationwide have frequently defied efforts to impose civilian oversight and, in turn, undermined the ability of communities to hold law enforcement accountable, according to a Post investigation

#article #police violence #mental health #mental heath support

10 notes · View notes