The recent arrest of a mentally ill homeless man in Burlington has prompted questions about the resources available for the city’s most vulnerable — and volatile — individuals.
Michael Reynolds was arrested Saturday after he allegedly punched a Burlington restaurant owner in the chest. Reynolds is a familiar face to law enforcement: the altercation at East West Café was Reynolds’s 861st documented incident with police since 2011. The 40-year-old transient appeared in court and was back on the street this week.
Police publicized Reynolds’ lengthy criminal record in a press release emailed to local media Wednesday with the subject line, “DRUNKEN MAN ASSAULTS BUSINESS OWNER.” But the release left out the fact that Reynolds, who’s been arrested 117 times, is schizophrenic, according to a relative who lives out of state.
Reynolds’ mental illness is obvious, said Mark Redmond, the executive director of Spectrum, a social services organization. Redmond had frequently seen Reynolds shuffling down Church Street, oftentimes talking to himself. Two weeks before Reynolds’ latest arrest, Redmond wrote a letter — as a private citizen, not as a Spectrum employee — to the Burlington City Council.
“Why do we, as a supposedly civilized, just and compassionate society, allow [Reynolds], and others in a similar condition (of which there most certainly are) to live in this condition?” Redmond wrote. “Why do we witness his daily suffering, clearly and obviously due to a mental health condition which does not allow him to care for himself at even the most basic level, while also a threat to public safety?”
According a member of Spectrum staff who knew Reynolds, the homeless man had “been admitted to virtually every single residential setting available in the city of Burlington, be that low-barrier, Housing First, with all kinds of mental health and social supports, and rarely lasted more than a day due to his erratic and unsafe behavior which is a result of his severe mental health condition,” Redmond wrote in his letter.
During the month of June, Redmond noted, police dealt with Reynolds on a daily basis. He’s been convicted of crimes 31 times and has racked up dozens of tickets for which he owes the city nearly $12,000 in fines and fees.
What Reynolds needs, according to Redmond, is involuntary confinement. The bar for that is high in Vermont, and the number of beds is limited.
The responsibility lies with the state, Redmond noted, to provide more beds and ensure that the resources are available to meet the significant needs of someone like Reynolds.
VTDigger.org reported that 512 Vermonters were involuntarily hospitalized in fiscal year 2016.
“He needs help. A lot of help. He’s not going to get it in prison,” Redmond told Seven Days. “He’s been through every kind of community-based setting we’ve got and hasn’t succeeded.”
At the city level, two resolutions will come before the Burlington City Council on Monday. One, sponsored by Republican Kurt Wright (R-Ward 4) and backed by Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo, would create criminal penalties for those who repeatedly commit “quality of life” offenses such as open container violations and urinating in public.
Councilor Adam Roof (I-Ward 8) also proposed convening a diverse group of support services and city stakeholders. He said evidence points to care-based solutions, rather than punitive efforts, as being more effective in preventing crime.
The goal, Roof added, is to “bring everyone under one roof” and to ensure that “all the services we have are deployed.” Eight city councilors have signed on as cosponsors.
“If we had a just and compassionate society, there would be a place for this young man. But it would not be community based, it would be involuntary confinement,” Redmond said.
He predicted an uphill battle: “There are too many people who don’t want to hear it.”
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I have known Reynolds for 20 years and he has gotten worse over the years. Burlington police state that they’re concerned yet I have seen them laugh about him. Mike is a very caring person if you take the time and effort to get to know him. I have supported him in numerous ways and I can’t do it alone. His brother, dad and gram have as well, since the death of his mom and niece years ago. People say they care yet they turn their cheeks. He does need long term involuntary inpatient treatment. He needs caring individuals to stand by him. His friends want him to be better and it needs to be a good ending not another statistic shot down by police due to his illness. This Mike is not the Mike I met and grew to enjoy.
If Reynolds is a transient than I guess anyone that lives in Burlington for years is a transient. It seems that if you lived in town since 2011 that makes you a resident. I suggest people stop talking as those those that live on the streets are less than human. Under a Trump government that could mean concentration camps or worse.
“Reynolds is a familiar face to law enforcement: the altercation at East West Caf was Reynolds’s 861st documented incident with police since 2011. The 40-year-old transient appeared in court and was back on the street this week.”
transient
tranSHnt,tranznt/
adjective
adjective: transient
1.
lasting only for a short time; impermanent.
“a transient cold spell”
synonyms: transitory, temporary, short-lived, short-term, ephemeral, impermanent, brief, short, momentary, fleeting, passing, here today and gone tomorrow;
More
literaryevanescent, fugitive
“our interest in the environment must not be transient”
antonyms: permanent
staying or working in a place for only a short time.
“the transient nature of the labor force in catering”
noun
noun: transient; plural noun: transients
1.
a person who is staying or working in a place for only a short time.
synonyms: hobo, vagrant, vagabond, street person, homeless person, down-and-out; More
traveler, drifter, derelict
“the plight of poor transients”
2.
a momentary variation in current, voltage, or frequency.
Origin
late 16th century: from Latin transient- going across, from the verb transire, from trans- across + ire go.
We a community based system like Adam Roof
This one is off the wall and totally wrong:
“One, sponsored by Republican Kurt Wright (Ward-4) and backed by Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo, would create criminal penalties for those who repeatedly commit “quality of life” offenses such as open container violations and urinating in public. ”
I am shocked that our chief of police would back this.
We need help for the mentally ill, not criminal charges and prison.
cb
Saysme, I do believe you’re touting the same mentality as self-righteous dictators.
Why on earth should the safety of people not mentally ill take priority? Why is that a given to you?
And please elaborate on “removed”. What does “removed” mean to you? If it means arrest.and jail, that doesn’t work for schizophrenics. But why don’t you try it in your home and see how he reacts with no meds.
Excuse me community, but I think the safety of the people who are not mentally ill takes priority over one person who is. Greater good served if threat is removed.
I agree with the first commenter Barbara.
I really think people need to undertstand what it means when someone is mentally ill – it means they are not choosing their behavior! That’s why it’s so dangerous. Mental illness inherently means that something brain-related is causing a person to be unable to stop without meds to help fix the imbalance. People with schizophrenia are well-known to have problems going off-meds. For someone like Michael who has zero support system (no family or friends to safely access help from), there is no one to regulate his meds.
One thing I’m most sad about is the lack of inherent understanding from other members of this community as shown by the previous articles’ conments about this. Almost no one felt mental illness was a relevant or legitimate concern, but rather going by the numbers of felonies is plenty of info to base a decision on, and to “lock him up” and “why hasn’t it been done yet?”
It’s a shame this is like this, because if there is so much misunderstanding and taboo about mental illness, how many people have been pushing themselves way too hard and hurting themselves thinking it would be social suicide already to reach out for help?
If we had a just and compassionate society, there would be a place for this young man. But it would not be community based, it would be involuntary confinement.”
Wow! That does sound like a just and compassionate society! And with the true and proven power of modern psychiatry for healing and growth, and with the heads of our social service agencies espousing such lucid wisdom, I wonder why things have not already changed?
“Wright’s and DelPozo’s idea takes us back to the 1950s”
Please show me exactly where Chief Del Pozo said that he wanted to lock Mr. Reynolds up in prison? Please show me exactly where Chief Del Pozo said that he was against involuntary commitment for this man?
No Katie , Reynolds latest arrest exposes holes in the judicial system . He is an menace to society while not wishing help for himself . Stop trying so hard to make him out to be a victim . He is a victimizer !
Mark Redmond is speaking sense with regard to this man. Wright’s and DelPozo’s idea takes us back to the 1950s when “status crimes” were used to lock up the mentally ill and take them off the street. The unfortunate man in question should meet the criteria for involuntary commitment, given that he has shown himself to be a danger to himself and others because of his mental illness. Locking him up in a prison situation will only exacerbate his illness, placing him is a situation where the guards are not educated or trained to deal with such severe mental illness. He would come out worse than he went in, and that won’t be good for anybody.