Report: Replacing cops with healthcare pros working in Denver

[beschizza]

Originally published at: Report: Replacing cops with healthcare pros working in Denver | Boing Boing

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[gracchus]

More funding for this kind of intervention, less for cops. I believe there’s a term for that…

[navarro]

@beschizza

In six months, how many times did the healthcare professionals need to make an arrest or call for backup?

this is probably why the republican governor of my state, texas, demanded the upcoming legislature forbid localities from moving police funding to social workers or health care professionals to strike a blow against “defunding the police”.

[ClutchLinkey]

@gracchus

I believe there’s a term for that…

Don’t say it! The tone tr0lls are sleeping, do not wake them…

And also, this is awesome news!

[beschizza]

Yep, this is the point where it stops being about results (the outcomes of mental health crises) and becomes about imperatives (policing threats to the public irrespective of outcomes). This program’s success strips the authorities of the claim that police are needed to get to the best outcome. But they never cared about the best outcomes in the first place. They care about policing people.

[navarro]

@beschizza

But they never cared about the best outcomes in the first place.

oh, yeah, all of this.

greg abbott, like almost every republican i’ve ever known or heard from, is much more interested in punishment than justice. or best practices.

[Jesse13927]

Wait, so you’re telling me that helping people in need has the side effect of helping people in need? What will they think of next?

[gracchus]

If you want your mind blown, how about addressing homelessness by actually … giving people homes?

Housing First

[blissinfinite67]

Hmm, the good guys with guns were the bad guys with guns all along.

[vernonbird]

@beschizza

In its first six months… has responded to 748 incidents. None required police or led to arrests or jail time.

So, if we extrapolate for a year, that’s ~1500 incidents…
Think of all the arrests that were thwarted, with the corresponding loss of bail money, attorney fees, cop pay, etc. Over time, the job-loss will be staggering!
This will never do!
Gotta keep that PIC humming along & keep the peonage in their place, after all.

[ethicalcannibal]

This! Restricting housing until those that need it jump through religious hoops, go through drug/alcohol programs really miss the boat.

[Bobo]

@beschizza

But they never cared about the best outcomes in the first place. They care about policing people.

Data from programs across the world supporting the decriminalization of drugs and focus on addiction treatment clearly show that those programs work much better than arrest and prison, but that’s not much of a focus here in the States…

I wonder why? I also wonder how much private, for profit, prison businesses donate to political campaigns and police beneficial societies…

[Doctor_Faustus]

@Bobo

I wonder why?

I know you’re arguing it’s because of vested interests but honestly, looking from the outside, I’d say it’s also very much because of American exceptionalism. So many times political debates are conducted in the US as if clear evidence that certain things work or don’t work in other countries simply didn’t exist.