Thread by @peacock4ca42

Thread: A friend’s home was broken into last weekend at 5am. She woke startled to hear glass shattering and a man screaming “CALL 911!! CALL 911!!” She immediately grabbed her phone and barricaded herself in her twin daughters’ room (6 year olds). While on the phone with 911 /1

the guy comes upstairs and begins beating on the door of the room they’re hiding in with something heavy (later found to be a hammer). The little dog is going nuts and (she learns later) attacks the guy. He eventually stops pounding on the door and then she hears him in her /2

bedroom. She’s still on the phone with the 911 dispatcher. She hears more pounding (he’s in her closet trying to kick through to where they are). Eventually, dog still going nuts, all other noises cease and police finally arrive. They get upstairs to find the guy in her /3

bathroom cowering in a corner with the dog keeping him there. Police take him out in handcuffs. He’s completely naked. Seems when he broke into the house, he went straight for the garage, got undressed, found the hammer, and proceeded to head upstairs to terrorize a woman and /4

her children. Fast forward one day: He was on speed and it’s not his first time being picked up by police. He’s released. No charges filed by anyone. She is advised to get a restraining order. That’s the best the police can offer. The law doesn’t protect her or hold him /5

accountable. I’ve recommended she call her state assembly member, @AsmCervantes, who will care and will try to help. She has another ally who knows our DA personally and called him immediately on her behalf. Two very serious issues: laws need to do a much better job of /6

protecting victims, and we need more drug and mental health services in Riverside County, which is tied for last in CA for mental health providers.

I listened to our congressman talk to constituents (city hall meeting, we each got three minutes to speak, he refused to take /7

questions). His response to the growing crisis of mail theft in this particular community, which is directly linked to an increase in the meth addiction, was NOT mental health or drug counseling services. It was to increase the jail time for mail theft, and we all know how /8

poorly equipped our jails are to handle mental health and addiction issues (or almost any issue since they’ve become a money making investment for corrupt capitalists and legislators).

From start to finish, this entire situation is horrible and horrifying. And it becomes /9

so much worse when we realize everyone loses: victims, addicts, the mentally ill, families, communities, and society.

We must invest in the foundational programs needed by people in our communities across our country.

I will.

#peacock2020
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