Oct 26, 2021
Sioux City Journal, 515 Pavonia St. Sioux City,IA
Sioux County Sheriff’s Capt. Jamie Van Voorst recalled a young wife and mother who would commit “minor crimes.”
The woman, who wasn’t taking the medications prescribed to treat her severe mental health issues, would be caught trespassing or she would swipe a student’s bike from the school parking lot, ride it across town and abandon it.
“We were getting called to deal with her a lot of times,” Van Voorst said of the woman, who didn’t have any family members who were willing to commit her. “Jail is not the place for someone like that. It’s just not a productive setting for somebody like her. We felt bad about that, because we just didn’t know what else to do. We were getting a lot of heat from citizens who were tired of it.”