Defunding the Police

[ThatNickGuy]

Not sure if a whole new thread needs to be created for this, but i guess it's rated to the police brutality thread.

(This is largely a copy/paste from a Twitter thread i made.)

I was thinking. Here in Halifax, we have the Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team. They'll respond as fast as possible, go to where you are, if necessary, and contact emergency responders if necessary.

The people involved can range from social workers, nurses, or ununiformed police officers trained in dealing with a crisis. Usually in a pair, with different expertise to deal with the situation. Very good, kind people.

I've called them a few times. Sometimes all it takes is a phone call, as has been my personal experience. A friend once needed them to come to her home for a mental health crisis.

But, with defending the police, I wondered. What if this service was available EVERYWHERE?

Like, imagine a Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team was just as common as a police force or a fire department? Instead of calling the police for a possible suicide on a bridge, what if there was a MHMCT who could diffuse the situation easier?

Instead of calling the cops on a homeless person, someone calls the MHMCT to not just arrest them or take them to the emergency room, but get them legitimate help and counseling?

We live in an incredibly stressful world and mental health is severely underfunded.

The benefits that well-funded, wide-reaching Mental Health Mobile Crisis Teams would be substantial.

Speaking from experience as someone who has attempted suicide, cops or even ambulances showing up can be enormously stressful. Sirens, lights, uniforms. It created anxiety.

It made me think that my "dumb stunt" is taking precious resources away from people who really needed it. The lights, sirens, and uniforms made it feel like a spectacle and only made me feel worse.

If it were people not in uniforms, I likely wouldn't have felt as stressed or ashamed (of both myself and the situation).

Plus, by having a MHMCT, it reduces the workload for police to deal with crimes rather than a crisis that isn't a crime in the first place.

Just a thought, anyway. I can only speak from personal experience, but our MHMCT does good things. I'd love to it implemented everywhere.

 

[ScytheRexx]

It's too late, they have already discovered a devious work around!

On s more serious note, I totally agree. We need specialists that can put up with non-violent issues and only call in the police when violence is likely inevitable, and only if.

 

[PatrThom]

Many of the people calling for the police to be defunded are indeed suggesting that the “savings” be distributed much as you suggest, fueling programs which supplement and/or replace the need for the traditional “force” part you usually get when you summon the police “force.“

I can’t find it at the moment, but there’s that two-panel political cartoon with a policeman bent low under the weight of dozens of individual responsibilities while an onlooker asks, “Reduce his budget? How will he handle all of that?”
But then, in the second panel, he is looking relieved as dozens of other people swoop in and grab and take over one of those responsibilities while the other onlooker is saying, “...he won’t have to.”

—Patrick

 

[netsirk]

I can’t find it at the moment, but there’s that two-panel political cartoon with a policeman bent low under the weight of dozens of individual responsibilities while an onlooker asks, “Reduce his budget? How will he handle all of that?”
But then, in the second panel, he is looking relieved as dozens of other people swoop in and grab and take over one of those responsibilities while the other onlooker is saying, “...he won’t have to.”—Patrick

This one?

(It's by Neil Skorpen)

 

[PatrThom]

I don't remember if it's that specific one (I don't remember the "sex work" category ) but yes the sentiment is the same.

--Patrick