Man Arrested After Dancing Naked in the Streets of Lansing
Michigan's capital city hopes to be better equipped to deal with issues like this in the future.
A Lansing resident was shocked when a man began dancing naked in front of her and her children on Sunday. She told WLNS about the stranger exposing himself,
I was like ‘oh my gosh’ what is happening right now. All frontal showing, shaking it, dancing, doing all kinds of stuff.
Helfer called 9-1-1 but the man took off before police arrived. However, local law enforcement was able to find him nearby after recognizing the description of the suspect.
Last April Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin teamed up with the Lansing PD asking for Federal funds in an effort to expand mental health services according to the Lansing State Journal,
LPD's proposal would expand efforts to address problems such as mental illness, substance abuse, housing insecurity, trauma and health inequities.
There are many issues that law enforcement are simply not equipped or trained to deal with. That is why Lansing recently added a social worker to their team and have another social worker position in the budget for next year. The recent proposal would mean many calls that are currently dispatched to police would instead go to a crisis prevention team, when mental health issues are involved.
For now, the man that exposed himself to Helfer and her children is behind bars. Helfer hopes that pressing charges against him will force him to get help or at least get him "in front of mental health professionals."