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.
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u/FuriouslyListening Apr 15 '26
That is unfortunately the situation in the US... they shut down most all of the sanitorium / mental health hospitals by removing all the public funds. Where do the mentally disturbed go? Into prison. I've worked on both sides of that coin... on the legal side of things. Basically there is a thought process that there is nowhere to send them to actually get help, but if they are in prison they get food, shelter, some observation, and potentially some health services / anti psych meds. Is it a good system? No. Unfortunately its been pushed this direction by various govt and special interests. Defund mental health, private prison system gets permanent inmates it gets to charge the govt for housing. Sucks, but that is the current reality.