Re:Zero arrests in 6 months of health care professionals rep...
by collyw on Friday February 05, 2021 @05:57AM
(#26035009)
> Law enforcement doesn't know how to cure criminality
No but I am sure places with more law enforcement are more lawful than places without it.
Re:Zero arrests in 6 months of health care professionals rep...
by Broken_Hippo on Friday February 05, 2021 @07:46AM
(#26035708)
That isn't true: We don't police rich neighborhoods like we do poor ones, so there isn't as much opportunity to catch people doing crime, not to mention that crimes of poverty or opportunity are less when folks aren't needing to steal things. (yes, I realize that not everything people steal are things like food, but mental health is important, and things often fill these needs). In addition, poor people are more likely to get caught for some things simply because of living conditions. A decently middle class person can find a private place to smoke a joint or do drugs. Just go camping, for instance, or out in the backyard. City living plus lack of resources means you can't just go out in the courtyard of the apartments.
I'll also mention that rural places tend to have fewer cops and are seen as having a generally lower crime rate. (I didn't look up the numbers, but this is the stereotype).
Re:Zero arrests in 6 months of health care professionals rep...
by circlefavshape on Friday February 05, 2021 @06:37AM
(#26035238)
A quick google suggests that evidence for a relationship between police numbers and crime rates is rather weak
Law enforcement doesn't know how to cure criminality, either. And it's much worse when it comes to mental illness.
> At best it knows how to medicate it and alleviate symptoms while causing very serious or deadly side effects.
Law enforcement isn't even that effective, at criminality or mental illness.
> Investing more money into this doesn't solve the societal issues which come from drug addiction, lack of economic opportunity, a failing education system, etc
Shifting resources into this from law enforcement responses to mental health issues does solve the societal issues that come from law enforcement’s egregious mishandling of mental health issues, plus saves money that can be used to deal with those other problems because it's cheaper per call handled. Also, alleviating mental health symptoms does mitigate many of those problems, which are, in many cases, direct consequences of mental health symptoms.
> I would rather see us focus on fixing schools
As if anyone knows how to do that.
> and the economy
Wasting less money on sending police to encounters where police presence is actively harmful is, among other things, fixing the economy.