Dear editor,

鈥淢entally ill person shot by police鈥� scream the headlines.

I haven鈥檛 been following the inquest into the death of Paul Boyd on Aug. 13, 2007, all that closely, but I am disturbed with one of the conclusions. Police are being told that they should be taking more training to deal with the mentally ill.

The mentally ill require specialized medical services. It isn鈥檛 the police officer鈥檚 job. Police shouldn鈥檛 be the 鈥渕eat in the sandwich鈥� in this story.

This story begs the question, by how much have services for the mentally ill been reduced in B.C.? What services should have been available to Boyd but weren鈥檛 due to cuts in health care services for the mentally ill?

Who is really responsible for Boyd鈥檚 death? People other than the police should be squirming this holiday season, not celebrating.

Who bears responsibility is the kind of question that should be addressed by the mainstream media and in the political arena. Sad that it isn鈥檛.

Sad, too, that many others are suffering due to mental illness for which they are not receiving services. Cliff Boldt,

Courtenay