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Thread: SF starts non-police behavioral response

  1. #1

    SF starts non-police behavioral response

    https://www.npr.org/2020/10/19/92414...ange-the-model

    In what will be among the largest and boldest urban police reform experiment in decades San Francisco is creating and preparing to deploy teams of professionals from the fire and health departments — not police — to respond to most calls for people in a psychiatric, behavioral or substance abuse crisis.

    Instead of police, these types of crisis calls will mostly be handled by new unarmed mobile teams comprised of paramedics, mental health professionals and peer support counselors starting next month.

    "It's glaringly obvious we need to change the model," says San Francisco Fire Dept. Capt. Simon Pang, who is leading the fire department's effort to build these new street crisis response teams.

    Removing police from most nonviolent psychiatric and behavioral crisis calls is no small shift: they can account for a quarter or more of all police calls for service. If you add in 911 calls for issues or complaints surrounding homelessness, the numbers shoot even higher, police data show.

  2. #2
    This should go well.
    #RESIST

  3. #3
    Site Supporter JohnO's Avatar
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    I hope the city is providing the Responders with excellent health insurance and generous death benefits.

  4. #4
    Member
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    I give it a week or two

    As soon as the first one of these "non police" get hit or shot at or chased by someone with a knife it will end.

  5. #5
    banana republican blues's Avatar
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    They should name it "Operation Rice-A-Roni" since it's sure to become a San Francisco "Treat".
    There's nothing civil about this war.

    Read: Harrison Bergeron

  6. #6
    "Dispatch, this is EMT Squad 51. We need immediate police back up..."
    We wish to thank the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, without whose assistance this program would not have been possible.

  7. #7
    Tactical Nobody Guerrero's Avatar
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    Milwaukee
    Quote Originally Posted by blues View Post
    They should name it "Operation Rice-A-Roni" since it's sure to become a San Francisco "Treat".
    Or, considering the season, a horrible "trick."

    As I've said before, in the spirit of plurality, let them try. Let's see how this plays out. Maybe people will be surprised (which people, I will not say ).
    "The victor is not victorious if the vanquished does not consider himself so."
    ― Ennius

  8. #8
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    If these calls do not warrant a police response, I'm not sure how they warrant a fire response, but then I've never been a fireman.

    I hope it works out well, but my expectations are low.

    I'm not a fan of participating in "pilot programs " so if another municipality wants to try and work all the bugs out, they can have at it. We'll reap the lessons learned, and if it frees up LE resources for more proactive policing I'm all for it.

    I don't think enabling more proactive policing is their desired result though...

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Guerrero View Post
    As I've said before, in the spirit of plurality, let them try. Let's see how this plays out. Maybe people will be surprised (which people, I will not say ).
    If they staff the squads with experienced, street-smart people I'd like to think it could be a positive change. It's not going to be perfect, but if they can handle a good percentage of these calls instead of the police it'll be a good thing.

    Nobody's happy with the current state of affairs. What's the alternative?

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by rd62 View Post
    If these calls do not warrant a police response, I'm not sure how they warrant a fire response, but then I've never been a fireman.
    Fire prevention measures has been so effective over the past few decades that the majority of "fire" calls now are for EMS. Almost all professional firefighters are cross-trained as EMTs and many are paramedics.

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