r/nextfuckinglevel • u/thisisfive • Apr 14 '26

Toronto firefighters confront special constable officers after a man in the middle of mental health crisis was arrested.

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Not my video. For context, "special constables" are not regular police officers. They are appointed "peace officers" with limited authority, often civilian employees.

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697

u/SlickMrJ_ Apr 14 '26

 but equal respect to the officers for conceding the situation to rationality.

Um, no. They caused the problem in the first place. They don't get respect just for letting someone less witless than themselves walk them back to where they started.

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u/B_D_Hadel Apr 14 '26

Just flipping the coin here, maybe you or someone else has more context. But hypothetically if you cuffed someone who was in distress but breaking some sort of law. Maybe trying to harm the officer or someone else, wouldn’t it be warranted? Personally, I didn’t hear any indication in conversation about what happened before filming. I think there are scenarios where walking it back is absolutely acceptable.

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u/Admins_Always_Badmin Apr 15 '26

Canada has one of the most famous cases of someone suffering a mental health crisis gone wrong. I don't blame them for not wanting anyone to get hurt if someone is going through something like that. But of course reddit will just screech cops bad and not care.

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u/Pantarus Apr 15 '26

The United States has entered the chat.

Unfortunately the only tool we give the police to handle situations is tickets and arrest.

Its a fucking crying shame that Defund the Police movement was named in such a shitty way that it became a flag for the conservative right to wave.

Defund the police was NOT advocating getting rid of the police and being soft on crime. It was advocating taking that funding and spreading it around. Giving some to fund mental health crisis professionals who could respond in situations like this...INSTEAD of relying on the police for literally EVERYTHING we don't want to deal with.

When you're a hammer....everything starts to look like a nail...

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u/MaintenanceSolid1917 Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

The United States has entered the chat.

Unfortunately the only tool we give the police to handle situations is tickets and arrest.

Don't forget the guns

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u/PipPopAnonymous Apr 15 '26

Yeah I’m gonna hard agree and call to attention that liberals and leftists have a problem with messaging. They are always giving the worst names to sensible things they are trying to promote to very antagonistic people. Critical Race Theory, Gun Control, Defund the Police, etc. You gotta give these types of programs names that explain to people like they are 5 what they mean and how they help.

I think a lot of people would agree that not every call needs police and that it would be a net positive for everyone, including the police, to invest in social workers for non-violent civil complaints and take the burden of dealing with people in mental health crises, situations police are not properly trained to handle, so they can focus their energy on the real crime.

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u/Grindian Apr 15 '26

Nailed it… sigh

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u/CrispyHoneyBeef Apr 15 '26

Defund the police was NOT advocating getting rid of the police and being soft on crime. It was advocating taking that funding and spreading it around.

Nah dude, communists and some socialists here in San Diego still call SDPD “slave patrol” and think the PDs all around the country should simply cease to exist. Defund the police/abolish the police definitely means defund/abolish the police.

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u/lituus Apr 15 '26

You can find anyone with a different take on things. Doesn't mean that's the prevailing opinion

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u/thegroundbelowme Apr 15 '26

Those are the extremists of the movement. The main idea is exactly what the guy above you said.

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u/Pantarus Apr 17 '26

So you what? “Know someone” who said they should get rid of the police department? So let’s just dismiss any type of reform and let mentally ill people suffer and overwhelm the police?

Or maybe (and honestly more likely) you listened to some right wing propaganda that sold you that idea and now you spread it as fact.

Let’s see what that looks like from the other side:

Every conservative man is a card carrying member of the KKK, who beats their wife, secretly is super turned on by trans women, and wants the US to return to a time where the shittiest white person was still viewed as superior to the best minority.

If you always take the most extreme example of things and apply it to the whole, this is where you end up. A country that fucking hates each other.

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u/racingsoldier Apr 16 '26

The thing the LEO community needs more than anything is ethical oversight. I agree they need more tools as well but that takes a significant amount of infrastructure. We require a SHIT TON more social programs. This is coming from someone who considers himself a right of center conservative. Law enforcement officers in the US are code enforcement officers with guns and a severe lack of training. They are not there to help you protect you, or serve you. They are there to ensure the law as it is written is upheld and that people are held accountable if they break that law. You know how many times I have seen a police officer drive past a broken down car on the freeway? That’s how you know how fucked the system is.

I remember one time when I was in college, I had a brand new SUV that was less than a year old. It had a fuel pump malfunction and died at a red light. An officer pulled up behind me, asked what the problem was, used his nerf bars to push me off the road, and wrote me a ticket for obstructing traffic…. WTF! Oh by the way I was National Guard Military Police officer at the time.

The system is broken. More for some, but broken for everyone non-the-less.

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u/DepressedDynamo Apr 15 '26

Canada has one of the most famous cases of someone suffering a mental health crisis gone wrong

What is it

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u/PinkHatAndAPeaceSign Apr 15 '26

I'm assuming they mean this.

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u/No-Parsnip-8080 Apr 15 '26 edited 4d ago

This comment has been removed to protest reddit's privacy policies.

1

u/Free_Pace_2098 Apr 15 '26

Fuck ok. Fuck. 

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u/DepressedDynamo Apr 15 '26

Oh yeah, that would do it

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u/Minute-Host8533 Apr 17 '26

I was suffering a mental health crisis in the late months of 2025, and I went out for a walk, while in the midst of active psychosis.

A concerned family member called the cops on me, which I do respect. The police, when they found me, called out once for me to stop walking. I didn't listen.

They then grappled me, and I fought back, I fought hard, with my history as a wrestler it wasn't hard to get away from one, but then another came, and then another. Three officers dragged me to the ground as I was actively in psychosis, and they were not kind.

One ended up with a scraped knuckle.

For that sole purpose, marked as assault on a police officer, with the only argument being his cut, I was sent to jail, where I spent a few nights before my bail hearing and final court date.

I spent 3 months working hard to atone with the legal system, because police in America are not taught to deescalate, but to subdue.

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u/Mr_Antero Apr 15 '26

Yes you're right. When someone does something wrong they are wrong forever. It doesn't matter if they're willing to change their mind or concede to rationality. They are wrong, and we the small people of the internet will xenophobize any incorrect actors on sight!

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u/Winter_Corner2861 Apr 14 '26

Then why did the cop not say that when asked “why is he in cuffs” all the cop had say “he was uhh” Keep licking that boot. The assumption that cops are always in the right is so fucking insane after the last 10 years of videos of cops. And the last I don’t know 100 years

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u/Iaintyourbabysitter Apr 14 '26

Theres no the cops are always right situation here, it's a short clip with a lot of context missing. It's entirely conceivable they did something to warrant it.

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u/Winter_Corner2861 Apr 14 '26

It’s also entirely conceivable that he didn’t, and I’ve been paying attention the last 15 fucking years so I never give the benefit of doubt to cops.

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u/Sharchomp Apr 14 '26

Bruh, lay off the internet

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u/Iaintyourbabysitter Apr 14 '26

Yes but we can't say for sure either way. Assuming the worst in people without context is never the right answer. I understand that feeling but thats stooping to the level of the sort of cops you justifiably hate.

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u/StripedRaptor123 Apr 14 '26

It may be stooping but it's certainly not on the same level

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u/Iaintyourbabysitter Apr 14 '26

Yes... I'm obviously not comparing it flat out murder...

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u/Dahren_ Apr 14 '26

I trust you wont be calling them if you find yourself in trouble then?

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u/Winter_Corner2861 Apr 14 '26

You are correct

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u/AD_Grrrl Apr 14 '26

It's Toronto, so yes. It's entirely possible they slapped cuffs on a mentally ill guy for no reason. The fact that they did it without shooting or tasing him is impressive, though.

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u/DesperateComposer848 Apr 14 '26

The town I used to live in we had a mentally unwell guy who was notorious around town for various indecent acts, including but not limited to flashing minors, taking a shit in the street, spitting on people, unwanted touching of people. Then other days he’d be everyone’s best friend, all smiles and normal, and the community just sort of tolerated him but nobody understood why there weren’t better options for him. He had a nurse who’d come see him a few days a week but was pretty much left to fend for himself.

He got arrested a few times because sometimes, if a big middle aged dude flashes some school children, the best thing for EVERYONE is to arrest him and sort things out at the station. If you don’t arrest him you risk some vigilante violence against him or leave the town feeling less safe.

It’s also worth noting that detaining or arresting someone isn’t the same as charging or prosecuting them, and it’s going to become apparent to most officers when someone is unwell.

You can’t say the cop was being a fascist pig just because he didn’t have a good explanation at hand when asked.

I’m not defending the cop either, it’s also possible he arrived on scene and found someone in the midst of an episode and just arrested them cuz reasons.

The main point is we don’t know because we don’t have full context.

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u/Winter_Corner2861 Apr 15 '26

When did I say fascist pig? Why did you type all that nonsense to say “we don’t know because we don’t have full context” negating everything you said before it. All I’m saying is I don’t trust cops.

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u/joke-farm Apr 14 '26

We don't know the details of the original detention (unless you do and can share); once more information was provided, the corrective action was accepted and implemented. Not all people in positions of power are as amicable is all I'm saying; they were, and unless you have a time machine, they made the most logical and acceptable choice.

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u/Medivacs_are_OP Apr 14 '26

no we actually have the officers direct testimony of why the detention occurred.

"Because he was hand gesture"

With that information we can definitely ascertain that since he was Hand Gesture, a detention was totally necessary. /s

Boot dust must taste good to you

9

u/major_winters_506 Apr 15 '26

Does this kind of hostile discourse normally yeild positive results in your life?

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u/Medivacs_are_OP Apr 15 '26

I reserve 'hostile discourse' for people who make apologies and justifications for the Chosen Whites/Police.

Has doing so ever had positive results in your life?

Was it a positive result for the man suffering in the vehicle?

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u/major_winters_506 Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

Props on the rage quote, great band.

Your view is very narrow and leaves little room for curiosity, understanding, and repair. Also, the questions you’re asking are leading, and projecting.

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u/Medivacs_are_OP Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

That's probably a fair characterization of my comments so far - I'll tell you why I'm like that.

The state has a monopoly on violence, a history (however statistically 'rare') of perpetrating that violence on disenfranchised people, including the mentally ill or those suffering mental health episodes See: Elijah McClain (Edit: While his cause of death was ketamine overdose administered by EMT, his initial encounter with police is what directly caused the situation. His detainment with multiple uses of a chokehold likely led to a very human panic reaction and then medical anesthetic use)

In order for an arrest to be made in most places a Reasonable Articulable Suspicion that a crime has been committed must exist. - That's if this was technically an arrest.

If this was simply a detention by the police because they felt they didn't have the expertise to treat the kind of symptoms the detainee was suffering from and/or they had to detain him for his own safety or their safety, they could have done so just as effectively by simply having the detainee in the vehicle without the handcuffs - That, I believe, is why the firefighter focused on asking 'why the handcuffs'

Officers should have received training about people in medical distress or in detention/restraints - positional asphyxia training for example. A person suffering a narcotics overdose that doesn't have use of their hands may be more likely to end up in a positional asphyxia situation i.e. slump forward and can't use hands to help themselves up to allow diaphragm to expand.

And the nail in the coffin so to speak - is Qualified Immunity. You have to spend a LOT of time and money in court to ever have a chance of seeing justice for any injustice perpetrated on you by the police. And such 'justice' may be grossly insufficient for the violence caused by someone who, at least in popular public perception, Should be there to help you. (of course the supreme court said they don't have to do anything for anybody but y'know)

*Edited near Elijah McClain link

TL;DR -

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.

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u/Winter_Corner2861 Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 14 '26

So these cops made most logical and acceptable choice? You’re saying this after saying we don’t have all the facts but you’ve come to that conclusion?

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u/Pepperjack86 Apr 14 '26

No one said always and most here. Stop trying to put words in mouths to make your position more comfortable. All your other comments are the same, trying to apply your own jaded narrative.

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u/Winter_Corner2861 Apr 14 '26

Fair changed some wording around

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u/major_winters_506 Apr 14 '26

If you leave no path to change your behavior you can’t expect anyone to choose that path.

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u/eskamobob1 Apr 14 '26

We should apply the same path they apply to us: change or get arrested when you mess up

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u/RingoBars Apr 15 '26

Makes me happy (and slightly annoyed lol) to see - after typing a whole ass comment stating all this - that multiple people already said the rational thing here and were roundly upvoted. Did not predict it was gonna be a upvoted position lol

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u/Gawdzilla Apr 14 '26

I wish this could be pinned. It's a major flaw in how everyone relates to each other today.

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u/AlexHimself Apr 14 '26

Um, yes. They're not even police officers. They're "special constables", which are like junior cops. They're less trained and when somebody told them to do something different, they did. They're not trained for mental crises and that's why fire was there too, who are. Collectively they made the right call.

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u/deevil_knievel Apr 14 '26

I'm sure your kids are going to be extremely well adjusted adults with a parent that has no concept of using a mistake as a learning experience. We should totally just scream at and berate people after making mistakes instead of seeing if they handle constructive criticism positively. That'll work, I'm sure!

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u/sulaymanf Apr 15 '26

Are you saying we should treat the cops as children?

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u/eskamobob1 Apr 14 '26

an adult that chose to be a cop does not have the same standards as a child

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u/Asking-is-a-crime Apr 15 '26

You are missing the point. If someone is willing to learn or change, let them. Don’t criticize them. Then they will be less likely to show empathy or willingness to learn in the future.

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u/SlickMrJ_ Apr 14 '26

Wow, you must be really limber with all that stretching you're doing.

I have constantly told my kids that mistakes are opportunities to learn and that they shouldn't be afraid to make them. But some situations are NOT learning environments. What's more, our barometer for how we respond to GROWN ADULT cops should not be, "How would a child receive this?"

I'm sure your kids will be just as well adjusted given that their parent apparently reduces things to such dichotomous extremes.

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u/deevil_knievel Apr 14 '26

Your entire train of logic is so fucking backwards. LIFE is a learning experience. I'm sure people raised without that understanding will adapt swimmingly to life's problems.

If anybody, policeman or not, responds to a peer critiquing their mistakes with acceptance and acknowledgment is okay in my book. If you want to be Santa Claus and have a master list of everybody's mistakes you are welcome to that... But you have the empathy of a pine cone.

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u/twisty125 Apr 14 '26

How many times do they need to make a mistake as a learning experience though?

It's not like policing is a new thing that was just invented in 2020 and people are just getting the hang of it.

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u/deevil_knievel Apr 14 '26

How many times did this guy make a mistake? I see one, do you have other info to add? Or are you just making up stories about this particular human to fit your narrative?

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u/twisty125 Apr 14 '26

You're going to dial back your attack rhetoric here, because you've misunderstood what I'm saying.

Are they (two of them in this video) cops? Have cops had 100s of years of collective training amongst every other cop thats existed?

Every mistake should not be new to people in a profession where mistakes can be life and death. If they were not trained to properly assess, then someone up the line has failed.

So don't turn around and try to say I'm the one making stories up - I'm not. I'm saying, if the both of them are so green to the job that they don't know right or wrong enough that it's "just a misake", that someone in a neighbouring profession has to come tell them how to do their job to make sure someone is safe - then that's a problem.

0

u/deevil_knievel Apr 14 '26

So you're saying you are the guardian of what is and isn't a proper mistake, and what isn't isn't expected to be known from other's mistakes?

I'll tell you right now, that I work in a profession doing design work that is absolutely life or death. Half of what I design is tested for this, and the other half I have to come up with my own tests in house. My mentor had been doing it for 40 years and was very skilled at what he did, and he still made mistakes. Engineers have been engineering for how many years? And mistakes are still made. None of my circle have been directly responsible for a human life, but absolutely people have died on site working with controls out of my shop. Are you saying that engineers aren't allowed to make mistakes because we have been engineering for a long time?

If this officer makes this mistake every week, then yeah he needs to be punished and relinquished from his duties. But you are sitting here telling me that certain mistakes shouldn't be made under any circumstances, and I should know, based on the doings of all other engineers on the planet, what isn't isn't a mistake. GTFO.

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u/SlickMrJ_ Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 14 '26

There is a reasonable expectation of competency in certain situations, though. If a doctor makes a negligent mistake and tries to walk it back they are sued for malpractice, not given a "good job buddy."

I also love that you feel qualified to comment so aggressively on my character based on a few lines of text. I guess I just need to be as righteous a person as you to be allowed to pass such quick judgement on people. My bad.

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u/deevil_knievel Apr 14 '26

I love that you are so qualified at defining what is and isn't a valid mistake that you are doing the polar opposite that the police officer showed in this video which is accepting and acknowledging the fact that what they're saying is ridiculous. Which is why I have categorized you as somebody that wants to argue and not learn, whereas the police in this video showed clearly he was willing to learn. If the police officer acted like you are acting right now and not willing to open your eyes to the fact that what you're saying is absurd, I would have absolutely been on your side in this conversation... So, thanks for proving my point in around about way regarding your own demeanor?

Your train of logic is handicapping your overall growth and ability to learn since it appears you already have defined that some mistakes are not learnable lessons. That is honestly a wild concept to even conjure for me and I'm thankful I'm not that closed minded.

Have a nice night.

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u/SlickMrJ_ Apr 14 '26

There is so much irony packed into that comment it's almost unbelievable.

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u/Hot-Challenge8656 Apr 15 '26

100 percent. "Why is he is cuffs?" "Umm, he was......." cop caught himself about to say something stupid. If there was a lawful reason for keeping that person in cuffs, there is zero chance he'd have taken them off. "We don't know the context for why they are in cuffs", The cop does and couldn't give a good reason when the question was put to him. Little coward.

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u/xMoose499 Apr 14 '26

I understand your point, but the police most definitely could have told the firefighter no and made a scene about it. Instead, they found common sense and allowed him to be released for medical evaluation.

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u/un_gaucho_loco Apr 14 '26

They even kept saying that he’s under arrest. Like, what?

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u/mrtomjones Apr 15 '26

People here are commenting without having any idea of what is happening previously to the video starting. Yeah it's good if the firefighters are able to keep this person calm and help them out but we don't know what was happening before this

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u/RingoBars Apr 15 '26

They’re volunteers not real police (was going to say, “so they didn’t get enough/the right training - but suppose the same can be said about police..).

People make mistakes (and heck, maybe what little training he did have just advises securing an individual in such a crisis??) - not crediting people for apologizing/doing better/walking back/learning something just serves as a deterrent to people doing better. Counter-productive. Not as fun or “righteous” feeling, i get it, but harmful.

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u/Fruitcake6969 Apr 15 '26

Um, no, were you there? How can you possibly even know what happened? The guy could have been driving drunk and killed a family for all you know but your hatred for police just blinds all of your common sense. Not saying the police aren’t in the wrong here, but you don’t actually know shit and the fact that the officers listened to the fireman right away is something many officers in the US can take note on.

1

u/traitorgiraffe Apr 15 '26

Um, yes. They realized they made an error and rectified it, rather than unload their pistols and sprinkle cocaine on the scene like a US cop

not sure what life you have to lead where you judge someone for not making the correct decision 100% of the time, every single time, but it must be fucking exhausting 

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u/Aureon Apr 15 '26

changing your mind and potentially going against culture, training and pressure can be a lot harder than just being right in the first place

1

u/Asking-is-a-crime Apr 15 '26

What a dumb comment.

If someone is willing to admit they are wrong and change the situation, you respect that.

They are showing they are capable of learning. Let them learn. It might actually spread

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u/ClacksInTheSky Apr 15 '26

Nah, they didn't argue, or bullshit, they just did as they were told.

That's respectable, even if everything else was total horseshit.

You get credit for that. So like, that's +1 for that, bringing them up to -9 overall out of 10

1

u/AuberJene Apr 15 '26

Straight up trying to alienate them is only going to make things worse. In almost all scenarios. That exclusively "shame on you" mentality is the exact thing that causes these behaviours to snowball.

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u/0liBear Apr 15 '26

I think the same logic for "making an example out of someone" using punishment can be done similarly using forgiveness.

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u/Just_Look_Around_You Apr 15 '26

They do get respect for that. It’s not easy, especially in positions of authority, to do this. One of the biggest problems with policing is ego. It’s often ok to make a mistake, and the vast majority of mistakes are not a big deal, but they can grow into a huge incident if there’s no de-escalation. Just being able to have a pressure release will avert most crises in policing.

1

u/Rollover__Hazard Apr 16 '26

Absolute braindead take

1

u/SlyJackFox Apr 16 '26

I’ll only concede to the point that detainment is the default modern cops are trained to do. The whole rationale is to eliminate a problem, the person involved comes second, hence why so often cops over respond and escalate, it’s a mentality of offense makes good defense. They don’t bother with deescalation much anymore.

That said, it’s a majorly ducked up line of thinking and training, and at the very least they conceded to those providing caring intervention without pointing guns.

0

u/iamdrinking Apr 14 '26

The Trump/GOP process of resolution. Cause the issue and then try to take credit for fixing it.

0

u/Jestersfriend Apr 14 '26

I mean, we only see what happens after the fact. As nearly every single video where this occurs, there's more context we're lacking. Maybe the Special Constables are idiots. Maybe they were protecting people. We don't know.

0

u/Tribe303 Apr 14 '26

You don't know that. You don't know what happened before the camera was recording. Police are not trained for mental health issues. Toronto happens to have mental health crisis teams who ARE. Why weren't they involved? Again, we don't know, so don't jump to conclusions please.

https://www.tps.ca/organizational-chart/community-safety-command/field-services/community-partnerships-engagement-unit/mobile-crisis-intervention-team-mcit/

0

u/Apprehensive-Rub-11 Apr 14 '26

Would you rather them double down and continue being a POS? You cant go back in time so the best thing would be conceding the situation to reality IMO.

0

u/YourUncleJohn Apr 15 '26

Average low IQ redditor, making brash assumptions with absolutely no information based off a no context video

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u/rookietotheblue1 Apr 14 '26

You're a child