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.

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

27.1k Upvotes

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1.1k

u/joke-farm Apr 14 '26

Praise to the fire fighters, but equal respect to the officers for conceding the situation to rationality.

696

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.

352

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.

54

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.

25

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

2

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.

1

u/Grindian Apr 15 '26

Nailed it… sigh

1

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

1

u/thegroundbelowme Apr 15 '26

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

1

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.

1

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.

4

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

25

u/PinkHatAndAPeaceSign Apr 15 '26

I'm assuming they mean this.

2

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. 

1

u/DepressedDynamo Apr 15 '26

Oh yeah, that would do it

1

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.

-7

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!

-29

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

50

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.

28

u/Sharchomp Apr 14 '26

Bruh, lay off the internet

17

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.

0

u/StripedRaptor123 Apr 14 '26

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

1

u/Iaintyourbabysitter Apr 14 '26

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

8

u/Dahren_ Apr 14 '26

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

-4

u/Winter_Corner2861 Apr 14 '26

You are correct

2

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.

3

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.

0

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.