The foundation of the new policy is that New York state will be able to authorize first responders to forcibly hospitalize mentally ill New Yorkers who cannot meet their own basic needs such as food, shelter or medical care.

  • FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au
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    2 days ago

    Cool, and do you know that the ones that this new process is going to use aren’t mental health professionals? The change is specifically so untrained police officers with guns aren’t being sent in to mental health emergencies because they acknowledge that they are not what is needed.

    • Michael@slrpnk.net
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      2 days ago

      The article doesn’t specify, it only specifies additional training for law enforcement officers, but I highly doubt it will be the case that educated professionals go on the scene. The various mentions of first responders reads as first responders to me.

      Democratic officials nationwide have increasingly embraced civil commitments in recent years as a way to address the colliding crises of homelessness, mental illness and crime in their communities.

      You can’t solve homelessness and crime with involuntary commitment. This is woefully ineffective policy, no matter how you cut it.

      • FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au
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        2 days ago

        You can’t solve homelessness and crime with involuntary commitment. This is woefully ineffective policy, no matter how you cut it.

        This isn’t attempting to solve homelessness or crime lol

        The various mentions of first responders reads as first responders to me

        “First responders” simply means the first people on the scene. Those people have generally always been police, which critics have long said are not the correct people for this job. This is going to change that.

        • Michael@slrpnk.net
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          1 day ago

          Damn, here you are with all the gotchas. That’s it, I concede the debate. You win. Congratulations to FreedomAdvocate for successfully arguing for the involuntary commitment of individuals accused of no crime.