I don’t see why the police are needed at all for these metal distress calls. If someone is in medical distress, physical or mental, it should be solely an ambulance with a mental health specialist that arrives. Upon arrival, if the ambulatory crew deem they need police, they can call them, same as if there’s a fire and TFD upon arrival find a crime scene.
With ‘bangers shooting up the city, I’d like the good guys to be equally armed. Removing the police, or having a health worker lead the intervention for a mental health event should reduce the number of SIU-justified yet preventable police shootings. That said, I would like us to demilitarize the police..... revert to light blue uniforms from black, proper hats instead of ball caps, and light blue and white cars, not the black stealth look.
I would suspect the police would be thrilled to have MH calls taken off their plate, except that in many cases the reality would be that they would end up there anyway, only now later, with more people involved and the situation further deteriorated. I wonder how the paramedics would feel about being turned into first responders to somebody who is acting or threatening violence. Protective equipment? Tactical training? More money? They can only treat someone voluntarily- if the patient refuses medical treatment, they can't force it on them. Having mental health specialists scattered around the city 24/7 would be a great idea but, again, what happens when things go south. The Occupational Health and Safety Act says you can't force then into a situation that isn't inherent to their job spec, and if the job spec says they have to face violence, then you have to train and equip them, and expect the pay to be commensurate.
I honestly don't get the thing about hats and car colours. "Proper" hats, you mean the ones that originated in the military? Shirt colour, at least for rural departments, was shown to have an officer safety component when it was determined that shines like a beacon in the natural environment. Dark blue is not universal, there are still a few services wearing light blue.
It was mentioned by somebody in an earlier post that the police are para-military. While it is true that some trappings have military origins, saying this in the current context suggests little understanding of either the police or the military. Yes, they wear uniforms - so do the folks behind the counter at Tim's. Yes, they use military-originated rank structure, but it doesn't matter if you call a first line supervisor Sergeant or The Great Garloo, they're still a supervisor, and unless you are self-employed, we all have one. A individual police officer has an incredible range of free operatonal decision-making to a level unheard of in the military. If anything, a fire service is much more command oriented. Every truck has a Captain who directs the crew at a scene and, if additional trucks are involved, a District or Platoon Chief is engaged. There's those nasty military ranks again. Everybody seems to like firefighters.
Regarding the lady who exited the balcony, can we perhaps wait for an investigation? The only "evidence" I have seen is family saying she would never do that. What to know how many times I've heard that from the family of a suicide victim? Not pre-judging that this was a suicide, but often things and people are not as they seem. Perhaps body-worn cameras would help, but that's a topic for a whole 'nudder post.