I was walking to the store (there is a 24 hour gas station a half mile down the road from my driveway, even though my nearest actual neighbor is 2.5 miles away)
This cop stopped me, asked me if I was okay, I was not, I was tired, hungry and depressed because I had had a fight with my GF (a stupid fight all my fault, I said something without thinking and it hurt her feelings, which made her cry which made me angry for some reason) He talked to me for a good hour, bought me a coffee, and drove me home. Then he asked my GF to come outside and he helped me apologize, he gave a teddy bear to each of the little girls, and gave me his personal cell number to call if I have any problems in the future.
I mention this because my state recently started requiring training for dealing with the mentally ill, and the result is amazing. two years ago a cop would have found out I was depressed and Schizophrenic and would have simply called an ambulance and had me admitted. Now they talk to us and help us instead of simply judging us. I thank the efforts of Senator Angus King, who has been a driving force behind police reform in Maine. The fact he is Independent is amazing, because you don’t see many long time politicians who have held an actual office for most of their career (King was governor for several terms) who aren’t either Republican or Democrat.
This cop wasn’t just following his training either, he was genuinely concerned for me. It is very rare to find a cop who will take the time listen to someone when they could easily be doing something else. I have had cops blow me off for all sorts of reasons simply because they find out I am mentally ill. At my apartment they wouldn’t even send an officer if someone tried to kick down my door any more. It wasn’t until I got into contact with a detective that they started treating me like a human again.
Also I lost another 15 pounds in the last two weeks, and the cop told me I look a LOT thinner than my drivers license indicated. felt nice to complimented, only my GF and roommate had noticed my weight loss in the last couple months, even my pdoc didn’t notice only saying “looks like you haven’t lost much if any weight” I think 55 pounds in three months is good, I’m under 250 again
