Re:Police Are Still Citing the Homeless, Despite CDC and Cou...
by lotsofpulp on Wednesday April 15, 2020 @12:45PM
(#22879918)
In my experience, the strategy in the entirety of the US is to use the police to herd the homeless/mentally ill/drug abusers into the poorest areas, out of sight and mind of most middle and upper class people.
However, recently as their numbers grow, and they start becoming more and more visible, it's not as sustainable of a policy as before. I know that homelessness doesn't equal mentally ill or drug addict, but my point is that using the police as a long term tool to keep the homeless out of sight is not tenable. The police should be capable of first aid and handling initial interactions, but I don't think they should be tasked with this repetitive herding behavior. It has to be psychologically taxing for them to have to deal with people who they know they will just have to push along the next day or week.
And yes, it is completely appropriate for society to expect police to behave as part of the mental health care system. Police are often someone's first contact for some mental illness: Simply being able to talk to someone without shooting them and getting them to emergency mental health services should completely be within their grasp. We can provide training for this.
It isn't like we are expecting comprehensive treatment from them. It is more like expecting a cop to be able to perform emergency first aid for people until an ambulance arrives.