OCTOBER 5, 2020 | 2:47 PM
Calls have nearly doubled since 2013; fewer than 1 in 5 officers specialize in them.
- Whitney Bryen
- Quinton Chandler
It was almost 11 p.m. when two Oklahoma City police cruisers, red lights flashing, blocked Northwest 106th Street in both directions.
As officers walked toward the front door, passing the small koi pond where neighborhood kids like to feed the fish, a woman waited on the front porch with a key.
Flipping on the bedroom lights, police told a sleepy 71-year-old named George Crooks to get dressed. It was time to go.
He slipped on his shoes, telling the officers “I expected you to come.”
He had been depressed for weeks. He was losing sleep worrying about firing an employee. And then suddenly he was euphoric, telling people he was invincible and driving recklessly.