A Harford Community College student who police described as emotionally disturbed was arrested on the school’s campus Monday after he allegedly made threats against himself and others.
Harford County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to Harford Community College at appoximately 10:40 a.m. to investigate reports of a “homicidal/suicidal” making “dangerous threats” near the school’s library, according to agency spokeswoman Monica Worrell.
According to police, the male suspect “verbalized his distress to his own medical personnel.” Those individuals contacted the Shepard Pratt Mobile Crisis Team, who called 911. Deputies working with Harford Community College Public Safety officers identified the man, who was taken into custody without incident at approximately 11:20 a.m. The man had no weapons on his person or in his vehicle, and was transported to the local hospital for evaluation.
Worrell declined to identify the man, as she said no charges are pending against him.
I want to commend the HCC Police “Yes I said Police”. The chief out there is a fine officer and knows how to run an office. I have watched her handle herself in a professional way and this is another example of her, and her officer’s doing an outstanding job! How many deputies could put up with a spoiled 18 year old getting college paid for by mommy and thinking that they don’t have to listen to police. OUTSTANDING JOB CHIEF!
Babysitting the spoiled 18 year olds (as you indicate) and then calling the real police when there is a problem pretty much sums it up. Security Officers with SPO. Good Job Chief Babysitter.
Pretty sure police put up with spoiled self-entitled people all the time. What’s your point?
realcop…have you ever met the chief? She is more a realcop then any deputy. They may be public safety with SPO, but police powers don’t make a realcop. It’s dealing with people on a professional level. It’s easy for a realcop to show up and make things worse. I would put her up against any deputy and she would come out ahead! I dare you to call her Chief Babysitter to her face!
oh and realcop……hcc doesn’t need a deputy to respond…..press 1. The chief can go do a statement of charges and make arrests…..Does making arrests and carrying a gun, make a realcop? NOPPERS I know plenty of cops that get scared dealing with realpolicework.
What?
Sorry, but I know lots of BPD officers who do not share you high esteem for Debbie.
and I know a lot that do….Does that cancel our votes off the island. Police work is hard enough when dealing with the public. There are guns, knives and lots of other weapons. Just because you are a deputy doesn’t make your job more important. I hate to say it, but one of the main goals of a cop is to get home safe to his or her family at the end of the shift. I know plenty of good cops and she is one of them. She may wear a different badge, but she wouldn’t hesitate to help in any situation. Like I said, a badge and gun don’t make the cop. The cop is made by dealing with people and solving problems without having to always shoot up the town.
are you the chief or just sleeping with her?
unlike that last comment I am neither. I am expressing my confidence in the chief and some people think they are rentacops. There are people out there that respect the badge and she has earned it. I am one of those people who have seen her work and she has been professional. Unlike that bad choice of words, cops don’t have to sleep around to see professionalism at work. Not every cops sleeps around. There is such a thing and family and I do have one. Then when I do my job, I am a professional. I don’t need to degrade someone for speaking up. Like I said before, being a cop doesn’t just require a badge and gun. One day, all those cops who are married to the job will find out that retirement doesn’t give them the status of wearing a badge. Then the real person comes out. You can either dislike people who are not cops or you can join society and think everyone deserves a chance to help people.
Does it really matter what she is. My son goes to the college, and I thank them promptly for keeping our kids safe, and us parents immediateling getting a phone call at 10:30. Who cares what your rank is! I am thankful for someone competent working there!
Just a minor point unless they are 17 or under they are not kids anymore. They are young adults.
No charges for the guy at the college. Geeeeee who is gonna get the blame for this one?
SPO still carries a badge…AND a gun, AND has the power to arrest.
That being said, the arrest had nothing to do with HCC or Chief Eilerman (Who is Debbie?) other than assisting the Sheriff’s Officers in locating an individual.
Why the need for all of the name calling? Everyone did his or her job.
This entire situation and the way it is being discussed disturbs me. In English, this student experienced a mental health crisis. He told someone, who contacted Mobile Crisis, who contacted the police. The police then took him mostly likely for a mandatory psych evaluation at Upper Chesapeake, where they would evaluate him, and if it was determined that he needed to be admitted, he would be taken to a psychiatric facility. The student is question perhaps suffers from some type of mental illness,and I find it equally offending that he is being referred to as emotionally disturbed.
There is a procedure that medical professionals follow in the case of suicidal/homicidal threats. That I know of, possibly with exceptions for non voluntary psychiatric evaluations, and emergency petition must be obtained so the person can be evaluated at the hospital. Someone else may know if there are exceptions. As the HCC campus police are not authorized, the only thing in their power to do would be keep the student safe and calm while waiting for the police to arrive.
“How many deputies could put up with a spoiled 18 year old getting college paid for by mommy and thinking that they don’t have to listen to police”
Making such a statement as this is both uninformed and unhelpful. You know nothing of the person in question, nothing of their mental health history, and as I said, the only authority the campus police would have would be to keep the person safe and calm. Once the threat was made, the young man would have to be held for the police, and the police would have to take him in. The article states nothing of how or how he did not listen.
It is apparent, that your concept of mental health crisis is limited.
There is a process that is followed so that legal rights are upheld and the person is kept safe. Have you ever been in crisis? Do you stop and take time to listen to everyone
To ridicule someone you do not know, who circumstance you are unaware of is in extremely poor taste. I would much rather read this story, than another of a young college student who took his life or another because no one listened.
Mental health issues do not discriminate based on age, race, sex, education, or any other dividing line. Anyone threatening harm to them or others is a cry for help. I am certainly glad all involved had the presence of mind to consider it so, and not brush him of as “a spoiled 18 year old getting college paid for by mommy and thinking that they don’t have to listen to police”
Me personally, I think it’s great to have one less statistic, and hope he gets the help he needs. Nothings worse than writing an obituary for an 18 year old, or someone else who got caught in the crossfire.
@SC…you raise some valid points, but you forget that HCC can detain and arrest this individual on the property. The comment about the 18 year old spoiled brat was a general comment and not specific to this individual. Even though the person had a mental illness, innocent students and visitors could have been hurt. The police are taught to use force at what level they need to use force. They are trained to deal with situations not to “babysit” anyone. The public seems to think that if someone has a mental illness that person is of no harm. The police are not there to evaluate the individual, at the initial point of contact. I hope the person gets help and that no other individual has to be put in a situation where there is another danger. The HCC Police know the job, if given the right information. Apparently, this information was not known to police and that makes the problem worse because most people think HIPPA is the way to go and that police have no need to know. The chief runs a good department over there.
I am not familiar with the Campus Police situation at HCC, so I cannot make an informed comments regarding the department. It is possible that because of the nature of the situation the Sheriff’s department had to be involved, because I do not the campus police would be able to carry out an emergency petition. I’m still not sure I understand where the “babysitting” comment comes from. As I see it HCC campus police, while doing their job, simply did not have the legal authority to resolve the situation themselves.
I still have to say I resent your spoiled 18 year old comment. I began my education at HCC and worked 40 hours a week to pay for it. Some of my best friends who went on to be nurses, engineers, teachers or entered other fields also went, and many of them paid their way. As a whole I dislike generalizations because I think that are just that, generalizations, and thus prone to inaccuracy.
Mental illness is a topic that walks a fine line, because you are balancing the safety of the person against the safety of others. A tough judgment call. I would actually argue that the opposite prejudice exists, that mental health is always viewed as a potential cause of harm to others because it is misunderstood. It can indeed however, pose a threat to others, and then it must be handled appropriately, as everyone seems to have done in this situation.
The right to know is another touchy subject. Should mental health information be available to all. Sure one may think that, until it strikes someone they love and opens a world of prejudice. Additionally, since mental health is a health issue, you then have a world of other health issues you must reveal or you are discriminating.
My thought is that you are referring to the fact that the HCC campus police were somehow out of the loop, because once Mobile Crisis is involved, and an Emergency Petition is issued, it’s pretty clear that it is a mental health crisis. If the HCC campus police were left out of that loop, I can see that as a frustration.
Thanks for sharing your perspective.
What the hell are you going on and on about? No one said anything bad about the HCC campus police and you jumped on here like everyone was bad mouthing them (and in the very first post to this article.) If anything, it makes you look like a complete goof with a major inferiority complex.
I’ve never had any dealings with the campus police, but I’m sure that most of them are very professional and take their jobs seriously…just like most HCSO deputies, MSP troops, BAPD/HdGPD/APD officers, etc.
I just don’t understand why you feel it’s necessary to attack the sheriff’s office specifically and law enforcement in general for no reason. HCC campus police are classified as “special police officers” and have limited authority (and none once they leave the HCC campus.) I don’t know if they even have the legal authority to do emergency petitions and if they do I’m pretty certain that most of them have never done one. That’s not meant as a knock against them, but with limited jurisdiction and limited calls (both type and volume) most just don’t have the same level of experience as your average deputy, trooper, or officer (unless they’re retired from another agency.)
I gotta be honest…the way you keep going on about it, the more you remind me of that stupid mall cop movie (which isn’t really fair to your coworkers assuming you actually work for them.)
As someone who has taught at the high school level and a currently at HCC, I can honestly say that parental involvement is a bit excessive these days. Young people are not developing the skills they need to handle real-life crises with the constant presence of Mom and/or Dad. We need to put a stop to the constant text messaging between parents and children (even during class), the emailed excused from parents of twenty year olds for missed assignments and absences, and the utter lack of independence and personal responsibility this extended childhood has created. Trust that in any situation your child will implement the life skills you have taught them rather than showing up to intervene. Fortunately, nothing happened yesterday. Be glad. But, what if your child was forty years old and a similar incident occured in the workplace? Would you expect your child’s boss to notify you? When do we cut the cord these days?
Dr. B:
I can totally stand by your opinion 110% The apron string need to be cut and kids need to become adults by ways of independence, starting with college life.
I blame the whole self-esteem movement, along with the whole “protecting my kids from life” thing. That stuff does more harm than good.
Yes, we can care for our kids and want the best for them, but the need to learn and develop their own skills and methods for handling tough situations. Newsflash: the “world” outside of high school is a tough, scary, and un-forgiving place. Kids (even some adults) will never be able to grasp this knowledge if we keep spoon feeding them every step of the way.
/RantOver
I was once asked last year to guest lecture in a college undergrad course at a local area Baltimore Institution. At the conclusion of class I was waiting for the professor as we where going to eat lunch together and I witnessed a student come to the professor wanting to know why she refused to take his paper. The professor explained that it was over a week late and according to the syllabus the policy on late papers was clear. What got me was that within a few minutes the student returned with a cell phone and shoved it in the professors face and said “my mom wants to speak to you about my grade.” This is a problem when a college student no longer is accepting personal responsibility.
The generalizations are killing me. First off, why we think at 18 that children are ready to enter society and take complete responsibility for themselves I will never understand. Have you been to a college campus. Left to their own devices some 18 year old drink, have sex, skip class and heaven only knows how they manage to get an education.
I have taught in both public and private school. I have seen the lack of parent involvement and those who won’t come pick up their child’s report cards and those who blame you because their child didn’t get an award. Guess what. This is life. As educators, you get the best and the worst and you deal and hopefully before we start complaining about others children, we have mastered our own to a near perfect level.
This however, is a long winded argument, involving parents, children, education and society. It was never the point of the article as I see it.
I am amazed that from three small paragraphs, we have attacked police department procedures, parenting skills, 18 year old’s (do you remember being 18?), and in good measure society as a whole.
There are really two issues at hand. One of them is a mental health issue, one of them is a safety issue. The mental health issue stems as one can read, from the fact that the young man threatened harm, and mobile crisis became involved. On that end it seems the situation was handled well. The safety issue comes from the fact that once harm is threatened, steps must be taken to protect the young man, and the other students. It is not clear from this article how that was done. I personally having taken non credit classes at HCC received a call after the incident was over, but nothing before.
I had a professor once who told me to look at the facts, and another friend who said look at the evidence. If you read the facts of the article, as its reported, this story is about an 18 year old, who was having such a hard time, that he threatened to harm himself or someone else. He was taken to the hospital and hopefully gets the help he needs.
Let me tell you some of the statics on what happens when you don’t pay attention to as some have determined…”a spoiled 18 year old”
For young people 15-24 years old, suicide is the third leading cause of death. (SAVE Suicide Facts)
Suicide rates in the United States are highest in the spring. (SAVE Suicide Facts)
There are four male suicides for every female suicide. (CDC, AAS)
According to the American Society for Suicide Prevention males have a 19.2% of males versus 5% of females committed suicide in 2009. In 2009, 9.7% of Maryland residents committed suicide.
That’s really what this article is all about. Someone was really sick, and the process to get them help seemed to actually work. If you are familiar at all with the mental health system, you would know that this is something to be grateful for.
They say that we should not judge another until we walk a mile in their shoes. I know nothing about the boy, a minimum about those who handled the situation, and a lot about the mental health system.
If it was your 18 year old, or the 18 year old of someone you cared about, you might not throw out the spoiled label, maybe you would. You might not judge parenting skills, maybe you would. But like I said before, at the end of the day, its one less statistic. To me that’s the best possible outcome.
In the end we are solely responsible for one person, ourselves, and we can only hope to set the best example for others. Any improvements we are looking for in society, or parenting or anything, must begin with improvements in ourselves.
I personally want to thank every single person who paid attention and listened to this child’s cry for help, no matter what his circumstance. I hope someone would do the same for me if I needed.
DR.B…Wow so nice to see somebody gets it”. As a parent myself, I couldn’t agree with you more. My son is dealing with his depression, he’s not physco, mad , or wants to hurt himself or others. Instead he finds it diffecult to cope with todays society. Mom did all the thinking for both of my children, did their homework, basically took thinking reponsibilitys away from them. They dont know how to react to emergencys or daily life. They live by the cell phone, play video games untill 5am , watch and mimick the morons of the Jersey Shore.. can’t get to work on time , or class on time, let alone take out the trash or empty a dishwasher without being told to do so. Young adults are depressed because “We” did this to them. If we as parents make these “children” responsible for “their” life, we wouldn’t have such trouble children and young adults.
As far as mr or mrs Public Safety,,,a couple of silly questions for you…. was campus locked down????? or even made aware of the incident???. wanna bet people in the same building or area didn’t know what was happening. Oh by the way an email after the fact ,,doesn’t count. And what about people who don’t walk around staring at a cell phone all day…how do they know of a situation????? I think there is a lot of work to be done with regard to procedures on campus.
Just my opinion.