wilcox. i'm here today with my wife to ask that the city of san francisco take the necessary steps to fully implement laura's law. our interest in this matter stems from the fact that we are the parents of lore wilcox, to the legislation is dedicated -- parents of laura wilcox. nine and a half years ago, laura was working at the nevada county behavioral health clinic when a client is suffering from severe paranoia and schizophrenia and known to be dangerous, opened fire with a semiautomatic handgun. in the end, laura and two others died. three were severely injured. we and our community were left wondering how and why such a thing could happen. until laura's death, the issue of mental illness was barely on the edge of our consciousness. in time, we came to understand that our local mental health system was in serious disarray and that the situation at the state level was really not much better. we discovered that our streets and jails were populated with the mentally ill and in many instances, treatment was only received after the commission of a crime. further, we came to understand that mr. thorp was not a

now she'll stay there for the rest of her life and what we found with a lot of these cases and laura wilcox who the law is named after, the man who killed her, when he was placed into the hospital and put on medication, now he can't believe he did it and he has to live with the realization that he killed three people. and he was sick and he says to this day, my understanding is that he says to this day that he regrets it and wished that he had -- that someone was in a position to get him the help he needed and no one was. so it wasn't until these violent acts were committed that people got the type of help they needed. when we're talking about very severe schizophrenia and bipolar disease, we're talking about less than a percent of the mental health population that -- with mental illness we're talking about. so a.o.t. services can go on to help a lot of people who don't ultimately need population, although there's going to be a small percentage of people who do need medication. the actual services include, you know, literally whatever the individual is going to need to live a productive lif

it is named after laura wilcox a 19-year-old college student killed by a man who had refused mental health treatment. >> what laura's law would do is give families a tool to use to get their loved ones the help that they need before it gets to the point of incarceration. >> reporter: supervisor peers says san francisco has assisted outpatient treatment programs but opal for those in jail. laura's would allow family members or police to put a request to compel a person to enter an assisted treatment center. they cannot force people to take treatment. >> they may go to case managers or to their treatment program, but without the medication, you know, i don't know what good the law is going to do. >> reporter: and there are other concerns about protecting the civil rights of people with mental illness and the cost of the program. >> we don't know how much it will cost. and, again, there is no funding that comes from sacramento to help fund laura's law. >> reporter: and the board of supervisors is expected to vote on this measure at their meeting at 2:00 tomorrow right here at city hall. repor

it is named after laura wilcox a 19-year-old college student killed by a man who had refused mental healthreatment. >> what laura's law would do is give families a tool to use to get their loved ones the help that they need before it gets to the point of incarceration. >> reporter: supervisor peers says san francisco has assisted outpatient treatment programs but opal for those in jail. laura's would allow family members or police to put a request to compel a person to enter an assisted treatment center. they cannot force people to take treatment. >> they may go to case managers or to their treatment program, but without the medication, you know, i don't know what good the law is going to do. >> reporter: and there are other concerns about protecting the civil rights of people with mental illness and the cost of the program. >> we don't know how much it will cost. and, again, there is no funding that comes from sacramento to help fund laura's law. >> reporter: and the board of supervisors is expected to vote on this measure at their meeting at 2:00 tomorrow right here at city hall. reporti

it is named after laura wilcox, a 19-year-old college student killed by a man who refused mental healthatment. >> what it would do is give families a tool to use to get their loved ones the help they need before it gets to the point of incarceration. >> critics say laura's law can't force people to take their medications. they also worry about the civil rights issues and the costs involved. a vote on whether to implement it is expected later today. >> people 11ing in one peninsula neighborhood are being told to be on the lookout this morning. we will tell you why when we come back. >>> it has happened again. the investigation is underway into another car fire in richmond. >>> and ac transit has an important warning for east bay bus riders this morning. >> good morning, traffic is busy on 80 westbound to the macarthur maze. we will tell you more about the morning commute and have another look at the weather, that is coming up. >>> good morning to you, welcome back. this is the ktvu channel 2 morning news, i am dave clark. >> good morning. i am pam cook. time now is 5:30. mark tamayo is i

now the law is named after laura wilcox, a 19-year-old college student killed by a man who had refused mental health treatment. >> -- is it would give families a tool to use to get their loved ones the help that they need before it gets to the point of incarceration and -- >> -- can for the force people to take their medications and they also worry about the civil rights issues and the cost involved. a vote on whether to implement it is expected later today. >> 6:27. there has been a long busy night for firefighters in one bay area city. three suspicious fires in the last 11 hours raising concerns a serial arsonist is on the loose. >> reporter: good morning. i am jade hernandez. we are live in oakland where we are monitoring the situation ac transit drivers called in sick yesterday. will it happen again today? that story and more. the morning news will continue. >>> welcome back to the morning news. they just rang the opening bell there in new york and it looks like a lower opening. you can see the numbers on the lower part of our screen. part of the reason goldman sachs and ibm just r

the law is named after laura wilcox, a 19-year-old college student killed by a man who refused mentalth treatment. >> what laura's law would do, it would give families a actual to use to get their loved ones the help they need before it gets to the point of incarceration. >> critics say laura's law cannot force people to take their medication and they also worry about the civil rights issues and the costs involved. >>> another measure up for consideration by san francisco supervisors today would allow noncitizens in the country lawfully to vote in school board elections. voters rejected a similar plan in 2004. supporters say noncitizens who pay taxes and send their children to public schools should be able to vote for school board members. opponents say the right to vote should be reserved for citizens only. chicago now allows noncitizens to vote in school board elections. >>> 7:45. seven latin-america countries, nicaragua, paraguay, and peru. they all are opposed to -- theyed -- they filed motions. they agree with the lawsuit in arizona. critics fear this could lead to racial profili