One resident who had originally befriended Larry now actively seeks to get him off her street. She reports that he scares motorists by jumping unpredictably on to their cars hoods. He even threw a piece of concrete through her car window, causing considerable damage. Residents are now fearful of leaving their homes if they see Larry on the street. Larry has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He suffers from irreversible brain damage, the result of an accident that occurred while he served in Vietnam. Each month he receives $3000 in veteran benefits, which he wastes on drugs. After that, he ends up back on the street. He fights off the police officers who try to bring him into custody as an emotionally-disturbed person. Each time he is picked up, he is brought to jail or to the psychiatric emergency room of a hospital and held until the drugs are out of his system. He then becomes calm and docile and is released because he is no longer a threat. The cycle repeats over and over. The assistant district attorney explains that the criminal justice system can do nothing more unless Larry harms someone. His misdemeanors are not serious enough to hold him in jail. In court, he is typically meek and rational. The attorney believes that, because the criminal justice system cannot keep Larry off the streets, he should be held in the mental health system. However, he cannot be involuntarily committed to a mental hospital because, once his system is clear of cocaine, he is not an imminent danger. Thus, the only place for Larry and the 150,000 people like him is back on the street.