How Safe are People Who Work in Public Jobs?

Judges, teachers, nurses, firefighters, and police officers spend their days working with the public. They help people and do their best to change lives for the better everyday for not a lot of pay. Most of these individuals could earn a great deal more if they decided to work in the private sector but they are driven to bring about positive change so they work in the public sector.

Yet more and more these same people are becoming the target of mentally ill individuals who see any form of kindness as an invitation to stalk, harm and kill people who work in the public sector. The question is what we can do about this increasing threat to the very people who wish to help the public.

Years ago President Ronald Reagan decided to do away with mental hospitals and he decided to release those mentally ill individuals into the public without any type of assistance or public support. The number of hospital beds for mentally ill that could harm themselves or others dropped to far lower then it should have ever been allowed. The homeless most people see on the streets everyday are from that very group of people. What does it say about our society that we care so little for the mentally ill that we let them freeze to death on the streets of our cities at night during the winter every year or die from the effects of high temperatures during the desert summer days. How is this better then keeping them in a secure hospital where they receive food and safety?

These mentally ill individuals who can not be held accountable for their actions are still required to make decisions about their own healthcare and what medication they will refuse and which if any they will take for their own health. We would never allow a two year old child to decide which medication to take when they are ill so why do we force the mentally ill to do it everyday of their life in this country? How cold and indifferent are we to these poor people and their families? What if anything are we the public willing to do to protect these individuals who are unable to protect themselves for the harm they can inflict on themselves and others who work with the public everyday of their life. Should we lock public servants behind doors and behind glass walls to protect them for the very public that they serve due to our indifferences to the mentally ill in this culture?