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My dad was telling me how firemen he knows are predominately against the “defund the police” movement because firemen and paramedics are now dispatched to mental health related 911 calls prior to or completely without police assistance...
.. but how does that not sound like a police department actively washing their hands of the safety and well being not only of civilians experiencing duress but also their fellow first responders?
Like they’re literally just crossing their arms and saying “fine, have someone else do it.” And somehow, to these first responders, it’s the fault of the public and not the police department?
Maybe if none of these first responders want to deal with people experiencing duress as a result of their mental health, we need a completely new department of first responders:
A group dedicated to deescalation, mediation, and conflict management; trained as medics; unarmed except with non-lethal implements for their own protections - hell, give the tranquilizer darts or something, I don’t care.
But I mean if these jobs don’t work as they are, even for the predominantly white male populace doing them, then fine! Let’s make something new that does work! And hire people who WANT to do it! And pay them a living wage to do it! We can change things! We ALWAYS can!
