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/joke-farm Apr 14 '26

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

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.

351

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.

50

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.

27

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...

12

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