We need a 4th emergency service for people in crisis to just evac them from bad situations, almost like the witness protection.
We need a 4th emergency service for people in crisis to just evac them from bad situations, almost like the witness protection.
I don't want to get too political in shower thoughts, but this would solve a lot of the hot button issues if more people just had safer and supportive environments to escape to and volunteers / paid professionals to help them on the other end.
This is one example of how the current criminal justice system prioritizes capitalism over public safety. People who live paycheck to paycheck don't have resources to remove themselves from situations where they know they are in danger. Most people are murdered by people they know, not strangers. This is especially true in terms of women's pay inequality, where this systemic failure makes it harder for women to separate themselves from abusive partners, who often end up killing them. If you want to reduce murders, you need some wealth distribution, not more policing.
That was the whole point of defund the police - shift social/mental health services to people who are trained in those areas and let cops focus on crime rather than domestic disturbances.
This is one of the reasons abusers pressure you to quit your job-- so even if you were finanically stable before, you end up becoming financially dependant on them so you can't just leave. It also makes it nigh-impossible for kids, even kids of wealthy families, to escape abusive situations before they're old enough to get a job (and you can bet their parents will run interference to keep that from happening as long as possible, or else figure out a way to coerce them into giving them their paychecks.)
You say we don't need more policing, but I have a point to interject.
I was completely sober while my wife was decidedly.... not. She had just struck me and it would produce a black eye later.
I called the police, aside from the abuse, my wife was experiencing a mental breakdown and was on the verge of suicide. When I say verge, I mean I had hidden or destroyed anything she could hurt herself with, including my own psych meds that I need for my own mental health issues. She still tried, though ineffectual. We needed professional help. We wanted an ambulance. We requested an ambulance from 911. The pigs showed up, of course.
I had a swelling eye, a witness, and a dramatically unstable wife and was almost arrested.
The police do not care about your well being. "Serve and protect" has been stricken down by the Supreme Court. The police serve the 1%, and deal with us plebians as easily as possible... that is to say, they will ruin your life because it is easier than taking care of the actual offender.
We need a support agency for health, especially mental health, crises. A mentally unstable person can cause a lot of damage, either to their own life, or others. That includes death.
End statement. TL;DR; we need a public agency that helps people who are having a mental health crisis and doesn't treat them as violent extremists.
I don't think this is just a capitalist problem. I don't think there's been an economic system in human history (practiced, not theorized) that helped the have nots to the same degree as the haves.
The city I live in has a "crisis services" unit for mental health crises, drug abuse related crises, welfare checks, psychiatric evaluation for hospitalization, and so on.
I've used one of these before. The main problem is that you're often put on a hold for at least 72 hours.
And while this does help get you out of that immediate crisis, missing 3 days of work and pay can actually put you in a worse position when you get out.
And mental institution stays aren't always super helpful for long-term mental health. Many of them are as bad, if not worse than being in jail.
Same with my city. During the defund the police talk they made national news as an alternative to armed police response to mental health crisises.
Pretty much everyone in the USA is served by mobile crisis teams. 988 will connect you to one
Is there a 3 digit number you can call?
We have crisis intervention teams that are dispatched by 911 or the non-emergency police line. They are like ambulances with a nurse or EMT and a crisis worker.
People discovering public welfare :P
What's the scope of help you're thinking of? Do you need to get out of a home situation for a while? You could drink a 6-12 pack and go to your local AA/NA inpatient rehab. Bring a piece of paper with import phone numbers on it and you can spend 2-4 weeks tucked away where absolutely no one knows where you are except the person(s) you call out to.
I don't condone abusing services like that. But if you really gotta go, there are options.
Absolutely. And safe, private apartments the people being evacced can stay at for a few weeks / months while they look for work. Not "shelters" that are usually anything but (assuming you can even ones with space available for you in your area).
They just helicopter you out of a argument you lost
Ribbit
So the exact same thing that the "defund the police" movement has been asking for?
No, they're asking to do one thing and using a slogan that sounds completely bat-shit insane.
And you have directly proven your ignorance.
The "one thing" they want is to take funding from police and make a new service, one that OP described. You do this by defunding the police as the funding for police in most cities is INSANE.
So if you could stop lying about things you know nothing about, that'd be great.
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Yeah, you do that Jeff. Go to someone's private home and fix everything wrong in there before someone gets hurt.
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By the time things have escalated to the point the abuse victim is desperate to escape, they've spent years trying to fix things at home. Remember, most victims start off having loved their abuser once. It's only after you're met with failure after failure after failure that it finally starts to sink in your abuser doesn't want to change, because they like having power over you.
The only safe option at that point is to GTFO before things escalate even further.