To the Editor:

I’m writing regarding the March 1 article, “One veteran’s story: After combat, treating mental illnesses is the new battle.”

The police did not have to charge, at least immediately, this person. He could have been detained under the state mental health law and remanded to custodial care at the jail, pending psychiatric exam.

In  Albany County, the mental-health unit at the jail could have prescribed his care and treatment, short run. Thereafter, a treatment plan, with or without any charging for possible criminal behavior, could follow, if deemed appropriate.

Your in-depth story on a vet would apply to non-vets as well. The politics of cops, guns, violence, stigma of mental health, and/or criminal justice intervention and the adequacy of mental-health services is a chronic problem.

Despite the presence in the area of a medical school, law school, the headquarters of the state agencies and court administration responsible for the leadership in policy and management, there has been no progress to any consistent direction for the resolution of the conflicts.

Karl H. Gohlke

Albany

Editor’s note: Karl H. Gohlke is a retired administrator at the state Commission of Correction and the Department of Correctional and Community Services. He’s a professional social-work administrator with many years’ experience in forensic health and mental-health practices.