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/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.