Your 2012 series (“Deadly force”) outlining the problems faced by law enforcement officers who are called to deal with mentally ill persons was important and insightful.

It is tragic for both a family and the responding officer that such a call has to end with the taking of a human life, as in the case of Stephen McKenney, who was shot and killed by a deputy sheriff in April (“Sheriff’s deputy justified in Windham shooting, AG’s report says,” Aug. 21).

Please consider the following facts:

• A police officer, unless he or she is deranged, doesn’t look forward to or enjoy dealing with armed and suicidal individuals but must be prepared to do so, both tactically and within the framework of state and federal laws.

• Once an officer is confronted by a suicidal person with a gun, the family or individual situation has deteriorated to the point where it may be too late to seek alternative methods of resolution, such as counseling, medications or hospitalization.

• Criminologists and psychologists will generally agree that suicide and homicide can be closely related; hence, suicidal people may kill their families before they shoot themselves.

• A bullet leaving a common revolver (.357 Magnum) travels between 1,250 and 1,450 feet per second. Most police shootings occur in a 12-foot room. This leaves the officer a nanosecond to make a crucial decision.

The inference in many Press Herald reports involving police shootings and the subsequent Attorney General’s Office investigations suggests a whitewash rather than a thorough and honest assessment of the facts surrounding the respective shootings.

Is it sad and tragic that Stephen McKenney was fatally shot by a deputy sheriff? Yes. It is equally sad and tragic that he apparently didn’t receive the appropriate help before resorting to arming himself while waiting for a police response.

Michael McDonough

retired bureau commander, Portland Police Department

Cumberland